The natural prolongation principle or principle of natural prolongation is a legal concept introduced in

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Pr ...

claims submitted to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

. The phrase denotes a concept of

political geography Political geography is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of politics, political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures. Conventionally, for the purposes of an ...

and

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

that a nation's

maritime boundary A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of the Earth's water surface areas using physiographic or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Boun ...

should reflect the 'natural prolongation' of where its land territory reaches the coast. Oceanographic descriptions of the land mass under coastal waters became

conflated Conflation is the merging of two or more sets of information, texts, ideas, opinions, etc., into one, often in error. Conflation is often misunderstood. It originally meant to fuse or blend, but has since come to mean the same as equate, treati ...

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 usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political bo ...

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 Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as states, counties or other municipalities.UNCLOS The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

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.

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 Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

(

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment ...

).
OCLC 38390208
{{DEFAULTSORT:Natural prolongation principle Borders Maritime boundaries

See also

References

Sources