Delimitation of Adjacent and Opposite Maritime Boundaries

Two friends share a bench, and each claims the middle. If they sit on opposite ends, the fair line is the exact centre. If they sit side by side, the question is harder: where does one person's space end and the other's begin? Countries face the same problem at sea. The zones measured from their coasts overlap, and someone has to draw the line. The law calls coasts that face each other opposite and coasts that run side by side adjacent . This topic covers the rules for drawing the line and the four decisions in your syllabus: North Sea, Libya/Tunisia, Italy v. India and the Bay of Bengal.

In two minutes

Maritime boundaries between neighbouring States are drawn by agreement according to international law to reach an equitable result; in practice tribunals draw a provisional equidistance line and adjust it for relevant circumstances, then test the result for proportionality.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Public International Law on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.