PRINCIPLES OF SETTLING DISPUTES ON DELIMITATION OF MARITIME BOUNDARIES: A REVIEW OF CASES RELEVANT TO THE BAY OFBENGAL AND BANGLADESH
ABSTRACT
Scientific research reveals that the Bay of Bengal holds a huge quantity of natural oil and gas. Bangladesh is willing to explore this offshore gas reserve to stimulate its economic growth. But neighboring coastal states India and Myanmar are reluctant to negotiate their claims with Bangladesh recognizing her special circumstances rather they are claiming the gas reserved area of the sea which is also claimed by Bangladesh. The main dispute over maritime boundary delimitation between Bangladesh, India and Myanmar centers around Bangladeshi views to demarcate on equity basis North to South while Myanmar and India want to apply an equidistance system in East to West
and West to East boundary respectively. This study will examine the decisions of the International Courts and Arbitration systems in cases which concern the situation as prevailing at Bay of Bengal in order to search the justification of the Bangladeshi claim of equitable solution considering its special geographical features. This study will explore at the necessity of negotiation as an alternative to the time-consuming and expensive judicial process.
INTRODUCTION
Historically, States rarely delimited their maritime boundaries with other States. This situation changed in he second half of the last century. Ocean resource development has led States to define their maritime boundaries more exactly. One of the primary intentions behind the move to establish these boundaries has been the development of technology to recover highly valuable hydrocarbons and other non-living resources of* Senior Assistant Secretary, Law and Justice Division; Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary fairs, Government of Bangladesh.2 11: 1 & 2 (2011) Bangladesh Journal of Law the seabed and subsoil.1 The commercial exploitation of these resources often requires that defined areas be allocated among perators.The law on maritime boundary delimitation is one of the most complicated topics of maritime law which is crystallized in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,1982 ereinafterUNCLOS)2. UNCLOS, which marks the beginning of a new era in the law of the sea, regulates the principal aspects of international ocean affairs. UNCLOS establishes and fixes the limits of marine zones, provides for the rights and duties of States in these zones, establishes
the law applicable in the international seabed area on the basis of the principle of common heritage of mankind, imposes obligations on States to protect the marine environment, and provides for the means
of dispute settlement.3UNCLOS was designed as a document that recognized that the problems of ocean space were closely related and demanded consideration as a whole.4 The UNCLOS was said to have responded to the challenges of modern day oceans governance that is fraught with interdependent, interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral implications.5 The issues in or beyond the Convention held plenty of potential for conflicts among nations.6 Therefore states perceived the need for having robust
1 Charney, Jonathan I., and Alexander, Lewis M., “International MaritimeBoundaries”, Vol. I, Martinus Ninjhoff Publishers, Dordrecht/Boston/London,1993, at p. xxiii.2 Adapted 10 December 1982, entry into force 16 November 1994, UnitedNations, Treaty Series, Vol. 1833, at p. 3.3 Suvarez, Suzette V., The Outer limits of the Continental Shelf; Legal Aspects of Their
Establishment, Springer Publication, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York, 2008, at p. 1.
4 See Pardo, Arvid., “Perspectives on Ocean Governance” in Jon M Van Dyke,
Durwood Zaelke and Grant Hewison (eds) Freedom for the Seas in the 21st
Century: Ocean Governance and Environmental Harmony, Island Press, Washington
DC, 1993, at pp. 38-39.
5 See Borgese, Elisabeth Mann., Ocean Governance and the United Nations, Centre
for Foreign Policy Studies, Halifax, 1995, at p. 2 [Ocean Governance and the
United Nations].
6 Martin, Laurence., “The Role of Force in the Ocean” in Perspectives on Ocean Policy:
Conference on Conflict and Order in Ocean Relations October 21-24, 1974, Airlie, Virginia,
National Science Foundation, Washington DC, 1975 at p. 33, & p. 44.
Principles of Settling Disputes on Delimitation 3
dispute settlement provisions in the UNCLOS.7 The dispute settlement provisions enshrined in Part XV, along with Annexes V – VIII of the UNCLOS, form the backbone of the dispute settlement system of thepresent law of the sea.8 The delimitation of maritime boundaries, in particular delimitation of the seabed and subsoil, in conformity with international law, as it is reflected in UNCLOS, may create overlapping claims requiring maritimeboundary delimitation. These delimitations have not proceeded at ahealthy pace in areas where natural resources, mainly petroleumdevelopments, were underway or expected. The Bay of Bengal is a hydrocarbon-rich basin and the sea areas ofBangladesh are reportedly rich in straddling fish stocks and mineralresources, including hydrocarbons.9 Therefore maritime delimitationand delimitating the marine boundaries between the littoral States of theBay of Bengal are necessary precondition for exploitation of theseresources. But, the lack of defined boundaries, the presence ofnumerous deltas, islands and the existence of trans-boundary oil-gasdeposits makes the delimitation process very complicated. The maritimeboundaries of Bangladesh, as the only littoral State in the north of theBay of Bengal facing with all the other two littoral States India andMyanmar, need to be delimited justly and equitably. But a long-standingdispute over maritime boundary delimitation of Bangladesh with Indiaand Myanmar remains a major stumbling block in exploration of itsoffshore resources. The overlapping claims of these three countries overthe maritime zones in the Bay of Bengal need to be settled for peacefulexploration of natural resources. While India and Myanmarwant todelimit their maritime boundary on the basis of the equidistance
principle, Bangladesh demands that delimitation should be based on the
equitable method.
It is claimed that the total area of the sea under the resource
jurisdiction of Bangladesh would be approximately 207,000 square km,
7 Sohn, Louis B., Peaceful Settlement of Disputes in Ocean Conflicts: Does UNCLOS
III Point the Way? Law & Contemp Probs 195, 1983 at p. 46.
8 “Order for the Oceans at the Turn of the Century”, Kluwer Law International, The
Hague, 1999, at p. 95.
9 Blake, G., M. Pratt, C. Schofield and J. Brown (eds.), Boundaries and Energy:
Problems and Prospects, Kluwer Law International, London, 1998.
Abdur Rahim
lecturer in law
daffidil international university
