El Derecho jurisprudencial de la delimitación marítima

Abstract

The law of maritime delimitation is a key field in the new Law of the Sea and international case law. In practice it constitutes a threefold law-making process, involving not only jurisprudence but also conventions and custom. It was initiated as such in 1969 and applied in this manner equally before and after 1982. The fundamental norm of maritime delimitation (II) gradually emerged from the long normative history of international jurisprudence (I), and from the judgments of the International Court of Justice and its arbitration awards. The norm was based on a teleological prescription and materialized in the search for an equitable solution, adhering to the same method in the case of opposite or adjacent coasts, with application of the three-step equidistance method. In 2012, and for the first time, the ITLOS was called on to delimit maritime areas and it became the first international tribunal to recognize its jurisdiction for delimiting the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. This decision has not affected the consistency of international jurisprudence, but the case falls within a new typology of maritime delimitation disputes. Maritime delimitation case law finds itself once more at a crossroads, at a time when many maritime borders around the world have yet to be delimited.