The natural prolongation principle or principle of natural prolongation is a legal concept introduced in
maritime claims submitted to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
.
The phrase denotes a concept of
political geography and
international law
International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
that a nation's
maritime boundary should reflect the 'natural prolongation' of where its land territory reaches the coast.
Oceanographic descriptions of the land mass under coastal waters became
conflated and confused with criteria that are deemed relevant in border delimitation. The concept was developed in the process of settling disputes if the
border
Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...
s of adjacent nations were located on a contiguous continental shelf.
An unresolved issue is whether a natural prolongation defined scientifically, without reference to equitable principles, is to be construed as a "natural prolongation" for the purpose of maritime
border delimitation or maritime boundary disputes.
History
The phrase ''natural prolongation'' was established as a concept in the ''North Sea Continental Cases'' in 1969.
The relevance and importance of ''natural prolongation'' as a factor in delimitation disputes and agreements has declined during the period in which international acceptance of
UNCLOS III has expanded.
The ''Malta/Libya Case'' in 1985 is marked as the eventual demise of the ''natural prolongation'' principle being used in delimiting between adjoining national maritime boundaries.
[Highet, ]
The Bay of Bengal cases in the early 2010s (Bangladesh v Myanmar) and (Bangladesh v India) likewise dealt a blow to natural prolongation as the guiding principle for delimitation of the continental shelf more than 200 nautical miles beyond baselines.
See also
*
Equidistance principle
The equidistance principle, or principle of equidistance, is a legal concept in maritime boundary claims that a nation's maritime boundaries should conform to a median line that is equidistant from the shores of neighboring nations. The concept ...
References
Sources
* Capaldo, Giuliana Ziccardi. (1995). ''Répertoire de la jurisprudence de la cour internationale de justice (1947-1992).'' Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ; ;
OCLC 30701545* Dorinda G. Dallmeyer and Louis De Vorsey. (1989). ''Rights to Oceanic Resources: Deciding and Drawing Maritime Boundaries.'' Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
OCLC 18981568* Francalanci, Giampiero; Tullio Scovazzi; and Daniela Romanò. (1994). ''Lines in the Sea.'' Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
OCLC 30400059*
Kaye, Stuart B. (1995). ''Australia's maritime boundaries.'' Wollongong, New South Wales:
Centre for Maritime Policy (
University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...
).
OCLC 38390208
{{DEFAULTSORT:Natural prolongation principle
Borders
Maritime boundaries