Abstract

Article 121: Regime of Islands from the Law of the Sea Convention states (1) an island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide, (2) except as provided for in paragraph 3, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf of an island are determined in accordance with the provision of this Convention application to other land territory, and (3) rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. The basis for entitlement include land dominates the sea, rights to maritime areas depend on sovereignty over the land areas and no inherent ownership of the sea. The rules for drawing boundaries for territorial seas are equidistance/special circumstance and for continental shelf/ EEX are equitable principles: choosing a baseline, draw equidistance, adjust for relevant circumstances, and check for equity and proportionality. In the 2013 Application of the Philippines vs China, the "Philippines does not seek […] a determination of sovereignty […] nor does it request a delimitation of any maritime boundaries." However they do seek to establish China's 9-dash line is invalid, determine whether the small features are islands or rocks and hence entitled to only 12M zones and allow the Philippine to enjoy rights within and beyond 200M in EEZ and continental shelf.

Keywords: 200M Limits • South China Sea • 200M EEZ

Presented at: 2013 South East Asia Petroleum Exploration Society (SEAPEX) Conference, Singapore, 2013