This publication contains summaries of 33 cases dating from the late nineteenth century to the present which have been selected because they give an insight into the evolution of the law of the sea and the range of issues involved in this important aspect of international law. The cases selected include judgements given by the Permanent Court of International Justice, the Central American Court of Justice, the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, as well as awards rendered by arbitral tribunals and a special commission.

Baselines under the International Law of the Sea brings together two reports produced by the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Baselines under the International Law of the Sea between 2008 – 2018. The Sofia Report (2012) is organized around the interpretation of Article 5 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) concerning the normal baseline. The Sydney Report (2018) is organized around a common methodology in assessing Articles 7, 8, 10, 13, 14 and 47 of the LOSC concerning straight baselines, closing lines, and straight archipelagic baselines.

This single-volume comprehensive and systematic overview of procedural and organizational aspects of the jurisprudence of the World Court covers the period from 2001 to 2010 and includes case-law digests from 1992 to 2010; it identifies analytical patterns on various procedural judicial and non-judicial matters for the first time. The volume offers: Statements of initial claims as well as counter-claims of the contentious cases; Summarized details of all orders as well as the duration of the oral and written proceedings; Summaries and headnotes, texts of the operative and final paragraphs of all judicial decisions, the composition of the Court and declarations and opinions of its Members; Systematic reference on Sources of Law; Coverage of the composition of the Litigation teams, and much more. This work will be an indispensable reference tool for international and national judicial and quasi-judicial bodies, lawyers and law firms, and academicians alike. It will prove to be a very useful source for research on and analysis of the jurisprudence of the World Court. Excerpt from the Foreword to this Volume by H. E. Judge Peter Tomka, President, ICJ: “Mr Bimal Patel has assembled an impressive compilation of both institutions’ respective case load, spanning a period of 88 years; namely, from the inception of the PCIJ in 1922 to the ICJ’s recent activities, providing coverage up until 31 December 2010. Patel’s work provides us with succinct but accurate freeze-framed accounts of the contentious and advisory proceedings that made their way from the Court’s docket into orders, advisory opinions and judgments, thereby presenting a completed puzzle of the Court’s work.."

This textbook on the law of the sea sets the subject in the context of public international law. It comprehensively covers the principal topics of the course, from the legal regimes governing the different jurisdictional zones, to international co-operation for protection of the marine environment and marine living resources.

The delimitation of maritime zones is an important requirement for peaceful relations between neighbouring States. There are numerous examples of areas between States with opposite or adjacent coasts where sovereignty over an island or territory may not be contested but the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone is still pending. Under the Law of the Sea Convention, the delimitation of these zones shall be effected by agreement on the basis of international law. However, the Convention does not offer a definitive answer as to the methods that should be applied. This publication includes contributions by Judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, eminent scholars and experienced practitioners. The papers deal with various aspects of maritime delimitation: the jurisprudence of international courts and tribunals and their relevance for delimitation, the impact of the Law of the Sea Convention, the role of legal practitioners and diplomatic negotiators, and delimitation under particular geological circumstances and in geographically complex regional situations. It is designed to provide insight and guidance to the complicated process of maritime delimitation.

This book provides a complete overview of the jurisprudence on maritime delimitation. Each case is presented under a series of identical headings, so as simultaneously to provide the reader with a complete analysis of the individual case and a uniform measure of comparison with other cases. The headings are as follows: geographical context; submissions and arguments of the parties; specific features of the case; the judgement, broken down into its various elements; individual and dissenting opinions; and academic comment (together with a bibliography). The longest section on each case is that devoted to the judgement. The analysis of each relevant element (the role of third States, equity, equidistance, the displacement of a provisional line, islands, proportionality etc.) is presented in three ways: (1) a brief introductory part introducing, and offering a critique of, the essential features of the relevant part of the decision; (2) relevant extracts from the judgement; (3) commentaries (either brief or more developed, according to the needs of the case), that endeavour to bring out the substance of the judgement, in particular by drawing out the various consequences, making connections with previous and future cases so as to chart the development of the jurisprudence, and offering critical reflections. The book thus presents a complete panorama of the jurisprudential problems associated with maritime delimitation. The clarity and comprehensive nature of the presentation, and the quality of the commentaries, makes it an indispensable reference work for academics and for practitioners alike.