What Would Happen When There Is No More Earth? Legal Fictions, Maritime Entitlements, and the Double Standard of International Law
Main Article Content
Abstract
Abstract. Sea-level rise is one of the major global challenges of our time. Its effects are not only geographical but also directly impact international law. One of the most significant consequences involves State territory and maritime entitlements, as baselines shift due to rising sea levels. This context has sparked debate over whether to adopt fixed or ambulatory models for baselines. However, this debate remains inconclusive, with many questions unresolved and few definitive answers. This article aims to update the current state of this debate and offer a critical perspective on legal fictions that have sometimes benefited powerful States but not others. It examines whether international law continues to uphold principles of equity or remains influenced by major powers, especially considering the doctrines of Empire by Purchase and Lebensraum.
Article Details
Issue
Section
Articles
References
Bibliography
A. G. Hamid, “The Principle That the Land Dominates the Sea in the Context of South China Sea Disputes: A Critical Appraisal,” IIUM Law Journal 30, no. 2 (2022): 49–75, https://doi.org/10.31436/iiumlj.v30i2.742.
Alan Boyle, “Law of the Sea Perspectives on Climate Change,” in The 1982 Law of the Sea Convention at 30, ed. Jill Barrett and Richard Barnes (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 157–164, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004245044_017.
Alfred Soons, “Some Observations on the ‘Ambulatory’ Nature of the Normal Baseline,” Portuguese Yearbook of the Law of the Sea 1, no. 1 (2024): 5–11, https://doi.org/10.1163/29501636-01010002.
Alfred Soons, “The Effects of a Rising Sea Level on Maritime Limits and Boundaries,” Netherlands International Law Review 37, no. 2 (1990): 207–232, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0165070X00006513.
Bing Bing Jia, “The Principle of the Domination of the Land over the Sea: A Historical Perspective on the Adaptability of the Law of the Sea to New Challenges,” German Yearbook of International Law 57 (2014).
Bogdan Aurescu et al., “Annex II: Sea-Level Rise in Relation to International Law,” in Report of the International Law Commission, A/73/10, 2018, https://legal.un.org/ilc/reports/2018/english/annex_B.pdf.
Carl Schmitt, Völkerrechtliche Großraumordnung mit Interventionsverbot für raumfremde Mächte (Berlin: Deutscher Rechtsverlag, 1941).
Clive Schofield, “A New Frontier in the Law of the Sea? Responding to the Implications of Sea Level Rise for Baselines, Limits and Boundaries,” in Frontiers in International Environmental Law: Oceans and Climate Challenges, ed. Richard Barnes and Vito De Lucia (Leiden: Brill Nijhoff, 2021), 171–193, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004372887_007.
Clive Schofield, “Sea Level Rise: Implications for Baselines, Limits and Boundaries,” in Viability of UNCLOS amid Emerging Global Maritime Challenges, ed. (Cham: Springer, 2024), 59–72.
Coalter G. Lathrop et al., “Baselines under the International Law of the Sea,” International Law of the Sea Reports (2019), https://doi.org/10.1163/24519359-12340005.
D. Johnson, “The Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case,” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 1 (1952): 145–180, https://doi.org/10.1093/iclqaj/1.Pt2.145.
David D. Caron, “When Law Makes Climate Change Worse: Rethinking the Law of Baselines in Light of a Rising Sea Level,” Ecology Law Quarterly 17 (1990): 621–653, https://ssrn.com/abstract=2506545.
David Larsson Gebre-Medhin, “Charting the Reaches of International Law and Treaty Design,” International Studies Review 22 (2020): 730.
Davor Vidas and David Freestone, “The Impacts of Sea Level Rise and the Law of the Sea Convention: Facilitating Legal Certainty and Stability of Maritime Zones and Boundaries,” International Law Studies 99 (2022): 944–978.
Dire Tladi, “Is the International Law Commission Elevating Subsequent Agreements and Subsequent Practice?” EJIL: Talk!, 2018, https://www.ejiltalk.org/is-the-international-law-commission-elevating-subsequent-agreements-and-subsequent-practice/.
Evans, Malcolm D., ed. International Law. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Feng Qinghu, “Supremacy and Subjugation of the Doctrine of Natural Prolongation,” AALCO Journal of International Law 2, no. 1 (2013): 37–53, https://ssrn.com/abstract=2385438.
Frances Anggadi, Reconceptualising the “Ambulatory Character” of Baselines: The International Law Commission’s Work on Sea-Level Rise and International Law (Melbourne Law School, 2022), https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/4125998/Anggadi.pdf.
Goodwin, Geoffrey. “The Erosion of External Sovereignty?” Government and Opposition 9 (1974): 67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-7053.1974.tb00878.x.
Hamad, Mira. “Lebensraum and Großraum: Nazi Spatial Theories Beyond Nazism.” EJIL: Talk!, February 11, 2025. https://www.ejiltalk.org/lebensraum-and-grosraum-nazi-spatial-theories-beyond-nazism/
International Law in the Era of Climate Change, ed. Rosemary Gail Rayfuse and Shirley V. Scott (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2012).
Irini Papanicolopulu, “Maritime Boundaries after Delimitation,” Portuguese Yearbook of the Law of the Sea 1 (2024): 136.
Irini Papanicolopulu, “The Land Dominates the Sea,” Questions of International Law (February 2018), https://www.qil-qdi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/03_Whats-an-island_PAPANICOLOPULU_FIN.pdf.
James A. Caporaso, “Changes in the Westphalian Order: Territory, Public Authority, and Sovereignty,” International Studies Review 2 (2000): 2, https://doi.org/10.1111/1521-9488.00203.
James R. Crawford, The Creation of States in International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), https://academic.oup.com/book/3288.
Jens Evensen, “The Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case and Its Legal Consequences,” American Journal of International Law 46 (1952): 609–630, https://doi.org/10.2307/2194293.
John Agnew, “Sovereignty Regimes: Territoriality and State Authority in Contemporary World Politics,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 95 (2005): 437.
K. Lapa et al., “UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) in Light of Maritime Zones Jurisdiction,” Journal of Maritime Research (JMR) 15 (2018): 3.
Kevin Jon Heller, “Carl Schmitt’s Nuremberg Near-Miss,” Opinio Juris, January 10, 2010, https://opiniojuris.org/2010/01/10/carl-schmitts-nuremberg-near-miss/.
Keyuan Zou et al., “The Relationship between UNCLOS and Customary International Law: Some Reflections,” Marine Policy (2023), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105691.
Lei Wang, “Discussion on Maritime Entitlements of ‘Disappearing Islands’ under the Situation of Rising Sea Level,” Sustainable Legal Journal (2023), https://doi.org/10.56397/SLJ.2023.09.06.
Ludovico Carofano, “As the Land Erodes, So Does the Cultural Heritage: Unpacking (Fuzzy) Cultural Preservation Perspectives within the Falepili Union Treaty Framework,” EJIL: Talk!, February 3, 2025, https://www.ejiltalk.org/as-the-land-erodes-so-does-the-cultural-heritage-unpacking-fuzzy-cultural-preservation-perspectives-within-the-falepili-union-treaty-framework/.
Mara R. Wendebourg, “Interpreting the Law of the Sea in the Context of Sea-Level Rise: The Ambulatory Thesis and State Practice,” Journal of Environmental Law 35, no. 3 (November 2023): 499–507, https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqad024.
Massimo Starita, “The Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Baselines: A Question of Interpretation of the UNCLOS or Evolution of Customary Law?” Questions of International Law (April 30, 2022), https://www.qil-qdi.org/the-impact-of-sea-level-rise-on-baselines-a-question-of-interpretation-of-the-unclos-or-evolution-of-customary-law/.
Michael Oppenheimer et al., “Sea Level Rise and Implications for Low-Lying Islands, Coasts and Communities,” in IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, eds. H.-O. Pörtner et al. (In press, 2019), https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/chapter-4-sea-level-rise-and-implications/.
Nijman, Janne. “Empire by Purchase: From Manhattan to Greenland (1625–2025).” EJIL: Talk!, February 10, 2025. https://www.ejiltalk.org/empire-by-purchase-from-manhattan-to-greenland-1625-2025/
Nilüfer Oral et al., “Rising Hopes Amid Rising Seas: Developments in International Law Addressing the Threat of Sea-Level Rise,” UN Chronicle, January 31, 2024, https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/rising-hopes-amid-rising-seas-developments-international-law-addressing-threat-sea.
Olvera Amado, J. M. “La defensa de derechos colectivos con las obligaciones erga omnes en el derecho internacional: Un nuevo paradigma de responsabilidad internacional.” Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional 25 (2024): e19148. https://doi.org/10.22201/iij.24487872e.2025.25.19148.
Peter Techet, “Carl Schmitts ‘Grossraumlehre’ im Kontext des Nationalsozialismus,” Historia Constitucional: Revista Electrónica de Historia Constitucional, no. 22 (2021): 906–936.
Rebecca Strating, “Maritime Territorialization, UNCLOS and the Timor Sea Dispute,” Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs 40 (2018): 102, https://doi.org/10.1355/CS40-1E.
S. P. Jagota, review of Straight Baselines in International Maritime Boundary Delimitation, by W. Michael Reisman and Gayle S. Westerman, American Journal of International Law 87, no. 4 (1993): 676–80, https://doi.org/10.2307/2203628.
Sean Murphy, “Ambulatory Versus Fixed Baselines Under the Law of the Sea,” American University Law Review 38, no. 3 (2023): Article 11, https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr/vol38/iss3/11.
Snjólaug Árnadóttir, Climate Change and Maritime Boundaries: Legal Consequences of Sea Level Rise (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), 14. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009047906.
Sue Farran, “Seeking a Pragmatic and Creative Solution to the Challenge of Sea-Level Rise: The Case of Tuvalu,” Questions of International Law (July 21, 2023), https://www.qil-qdi.org/seeking-a-pragmatic-and-creative-solution-to-the-challenge-of-sea-level-rise-the-case-of-tuvalu/.
Suzanne Kingston, “Territoriality in EU (Taxation) Law: A Sacred Principle, or Dépassé?,” last modified 2015, SSRN, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2585994.
Tanaka, Yoshifumi. The International Law of the Sea. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
Tsung-Han Tai and Wenxian Qiu, “Assessing the Impact of Sea Level Rise on Maritime Entitlement and Delimitation: An Interdisciplinary Investigation through Legal and Technical Analysis,” Frontiers in Marine Science (2024), https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1448292.
Xuexia Liao, “Interaction between Delineation and Delimitation of the Continental Shelf beyond 200 NM,” in The Continental Shelf Delimitation Beyond 200 Nautical Miles: Towards a Common Approach to Maritime Boundary-Making (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021), 106, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108909112.009.
Yigal Allon, “Israel: The Case for Defensible Borders,” Foreign Affairs 55 (1976–77): 38–53, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/israel-case-defensible-borders.
Cases and other documents
Aegean Sea Continental Shelf (Greece v. Turkey), [1978] I.C.J. 3 (Judgment of Dec. 19).
Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), AOSIS Leaders Declaration on Sea Level Rise and Statehood, September 25, 2024, https://www.aosis.org/aosis-leaders-declaration-on-sea-level-rise-and-statehood/.
Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case (United Kingdom v. Norway), [1951] I.C.J. 116 (Judgment of Dec. 18).
Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case (United Kingdom v. Norway), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1951, 116.
Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration (Bangladesh v. India), 2014, 167 ILR 1, para. 339; Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal (Bangladesh/Myanmar), Judgment, ITLOS, [2012] 51 ILM 844, paras. 183–84.
Continental Shelf (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. Malta), [1985] I.C.J. 13, para. 49 (Judgment of June 3).
Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf (Barbados v. Trinidad and Tobago), 2006, XXVII RIAA 147, para. 223.
International Law Association, Baselines under the International Law of the Sea: Final Report of the Committee, Sofia Conference (2012), https://ilareporter.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Source-1-Baselines-Final-Report-Sofia-2012.pdf.
International Law Association, Final Report: Committee on International Law and Sea Level Rise, Athens Conference (2024), https://www.ila-hq.org/en/documents/final-report-committee-on-international-law-and-sea-level-rise-22-05-2024.
International Law Association. Committee on International Law and Sea Level Rise. Chaired by Davor Vidas. 2012–2024. https://www.ila-hq.org.
Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain), [2001] I.C.J. 40 (Judgment of Mar. 16).
South China Sea Arbitration (Philippines v. China), Merits, Award of 12 July 2016, XXXIII R.I.A.A. 153, para. 508.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “Small Island Developing States Are on the Frontlines of Climate Change – Here's Why,” Climate Promise, April 30, 2024, https://climatepromise.undp.org/news-and-stories/small-island-developing-states-are-frontlines-climate-change-heres-why.
United Nations, Draft Conclusions on Subsequent Agreements and Subsequent Practice in Relation to the Interpretation of Treaties, in Report of the International Law Commission, A/73/10 (2018), para. 51, https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/draft_articles/1_11_2018.pdf.
United Nations, Report of the International Law Commission: Chapter IX, Sea-Level Rise in Relation to International Law, A/76/10 (2021), https://legal.un.org/ilc/reports/2021/english/chp9.pdf.
United Nations, Sea-Level Rise in Relation to International Law: First Issues Paper by Bogdan Aurescu and Nilüfer Oral, Co-Chairs of the Study Group, International Law Commission, A/CN.4/740 (February 28, 2020), https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3853225.
United Nations, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, December 10, 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 397, art. 5.
United Nations, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, December 10, 1982, 1833 UNTS 3, art. 279.
Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening), [2014] I.C.J. 226 (Judgment of Mar. 31).
A. G. Hamid, “The Principle That the Land Dominates the Sea in the Context of South China Sea Disputes: A Critical Appraisal,” IIUM Law Journal 30, no. 2 (2022): 49–75, https://doi.org/10.31436/iiumlj.v30i2.742.
Alan Boyle, “Law of the Sea Perspectives on Climate Change,” in The 1982 Law of the Sea Convention at 30, ed. Jill Barrett and Richard Barnes (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 157–164, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004245044_017.
Alfred Soons, “Some Observations on the ‘Ambulatory’ Nature of the Normal Baseline,” Portuguese Yearbook of the Law of the Sea 1, no. 1 (2024): 5–11, https://doi.org/10.1163/29501636-01010002.
Alfred Soons, “The Effects of a Rising Sea Level on Maritime Limits and Boundaries,” Netherlands International Law Review 37, no. 2 (1990): 207–232, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0165070X00006513.
Bing Bing Jia, “The Principle of the Domination of the Land over the Sea: A Historical Perspective on the Adaptability of the Law of the Sea to New Challenges,” German Yearbook of International Law 57 (2014).
Bogdan Aurescu et al., “Annex II: Sea-Level Rise in Relation to International Law,” in Report of the International Law Commission, A/73/10, 2018, https://legal.un.org/ilc/reports/2018/english/annex_B.pdf.
Carl Schmitt, Völkerrechtliche Großraumordnung mit Interventionsverbot für raumfremde Mächte (Berlin: Deutscher Rechtsverlag, 1941).
Clive Schofield, “A New Frontier in the Law of the Sea? Responding to the Implications of Sea Level Rise for Baselines, Limits and Boundaries,” in Frontiers in International Environmental Law: Oceans and Climate Challenges, ed. Richard Barnes and Vito De Lucia (Leiden: Brill Nijhoff, 2021), 171–193, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004372887_007.
Clive Schofield, “Sea Level Rise: Implications for Baselines, Limits and Boundaries,” in Viability of UNCLOS amid Emerging Global Maritime Challenges, ed. (Cham: Springer, 2024), 59–72.
Coalter G. Lathrop et al., “Baselines under the International Law of the Sea,” International Law of the Sea Reports (2019), https://doi.org/10.1163/24519359-12340005.
D. Johnson, “The Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case,” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 1 (1952): 145–180, https://doi.org/10.1093/iclqaj/1.Pt2.145.
David D. Caron, “When Law Makes Climate Change Worse: Rethinking the Law of Baselines in Light of a Rising Sea Level,” Ecology Law Quarterly 17 (1990): 621–653, https://ssrn.com/abstract=2506545.
David Larsson Gebre-Medhin, “Charting the Reaches of International Law and Treaty Design,” International Studies Review 22 (2020): 730.
Davor Vidas and David Freestone, “The Impacts of Sea Level Rise and the Law of the Sea Convention: Facilitating Legal Certainty and Stability of Maritime Zones and Boundaries,” International Law Studies 99 (2022): 944–978.
Dire Tladi, “Is the International Law Commission Elevating Subsequent Agreements and Subsequent Practice?” EJIL: Talk!, 2018, https://www.ejiltalk.org/is-the-international-law-commission-elevating-subsequent-agreements-and-subsequent-practice/.
Evans, Malcolm D., ed. International Law. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Feng Qinghu, “Supremacy and Subjugation of the Doctrine of Natural Prolongation,” AALCO Journal of International Law 2, no. 1 (2013): 37–53, https://ssrn.com/abstract=2385438.
Frances Anggadi, Reconceptualising the “Ambulatory Character” of Baselines: The International Law Commission’s Work on Sea-Level Rise and International Law (Melbourne Law School, 2022), https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/4125998/Anggadi.pdf.
Goodwin, Geoffrey. “The Erosion of External Sovereignty?” Government and Opposition 9 (1974): 67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-7053.1974.tb00878.x.
Hamad, Mira. “Lebensraum and Großraum: Nazi Spatial Theories Beyond Nazism.” EJIL: Talk!, February 11, 2025. https://www.ejiltalk.org/lebensraum-and-grosraum-nazi-spatial-theories-beyond-nazism/
International Law in the Era of Climate Change, ed. Rosemary Gail Rayfuse and Shirley V. Scott (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2012).
Irini Papanicolopulu, “Maritime Boundaries after Delimitation,” Portuguese Yearbook of the Law of the Sea 1 (2024): 136.
Irini Papanicolopulu, “The Land Dominates the Sea,” Questions of International Law (February 2018), https://www.qil-qdi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/03_Whats-an-island_PAPANICOLOPULU_FIN.pdf.
James A. Caporaso, “Changes in the Westphalian Order: Territory, Public Authority, and Sovereignty,” International Studies Review 2 (2000): 2, https://doi.org/10.1111/1521-9488.00203.
James R. Crawford, The Creation of States in International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), https://academic.oup.com/book/3288.
Jens Evensen, “The Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case and Its Legal Consequences,” American Journal of International Law 46 (1952): 609–630, https://doi.org/10.2307/2194293.
John Agnew, “Sovereignty Regimes: Territoriality and State Authority in Contemporary World Politics,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 95 (2005): 437.
K. Lapa et al., “UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) in Light of Maritime Zones Jurisdiction,” Journal of Maritime Research (JMR) 15 (2018): 3.
Kevin Jon Heller, “Carl Schmitt’s Nuremberg Near-Miss,” Opinio Juris, January 10, 2010, https://opiniojuris.org/2010/01/10/carl-schmitts-nuremberg-near-miss/.
Keyuan Zou et al., “The Relationship between UNCLOS and Customary International Law: Some Reflections,” Marine Policy (2023), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105691.
Lei Wang, “Discussion on Maritime Entitlements of ‘Disappearing Islands’ under the Situation of Rising Sea Level,” Sustainable Legal Journal (2023), https://doi.org/10.56397/SLJ.2023.09.06.
Ludovico Carofano, “As the Land Erodes, So Does the Cultural Heritage: Unpacking (Fuzzy) Cultural Preservation Perspectives within the Falepili Union Treaty Framework,” EJIL: Talk!, February 3, 2025, https://www.ejiltalk.org/as-the-land-erodes-so-does-the-cultural-heritage-unpacking-fuzzy-cultural-preservation-perspectives-within-the-falepili-union-treaty-framework/.
Mara R. Wendebourg, “Interpreting the Law of the Sea in the Context of Sea-Level Rise: The Ambulatory Thesis and State Practice,” Journal of Environmental Law 35, no. 3 (November 2023): 499–507, https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqad024.
Massimo Starita, “The Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Baselines: A Question of Interpretation of the UNCLOS or Evolution of Customary Law?” Questions of International Law (April 30, 2022), https://www.qil-qdi.org/the-impact-of-sea-level-rise-on-baselines-a-question-of-interpretation-of-the-unclos-or-evolution-of-customary-law/.
Michael Oppenheimer et al., “Sea Level Rise and Implications for Low-Lying Islands, Coasts and Communities,” in IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, eds. H.-O. Pörtner et al. (In press, 2019), https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/chapter-4-sea-level-rise-and-implications/.
Nijman, Janne. “Empire by Purchase: From Manhattan to Greenland (1625–2025).” EJIL: Talk!, February 10, 2025. https://www.ejiltalk.org/empire-by-purchase-from-manhattan-to-greenland-1625-2025/
Nilüfer Oral et al., “Rising Hopes Amid Rising Seas: Developments in International Law Addressing the Threat of Sea-Level Rise,” UN Chronicle, January 31, 2024, https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/rising-hopes-amid-rising-seas-developments-international-law-addressing-threat-sea.
Olvera Amado, J. M. “La defensa de derechos colectivos con las obligaciones erga omnes en el derecho internacional: Un nuevo paradigma de responsabilidad internacional.” Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional 25 (2024): e19148. https://doi.org/10.22201/iij.24487872e.2025.25.19148.
Peter Techet, “Carl Schmitts ‘Grossraumlehre’ im Kontext des Nationalsozialismus,” Historia Constitucional: Revista Electrónica de Historia Constitucional, no. 22 (2021): 906–936.
Rebecca Strating, “Maritime Territorialization, UNCLOS and the Timor Sea Dispute,” Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs 40 (2018): 102, https://doi.org/10.1355/CS40-1E.
S. P. Jagota, review of Straight Baselines in International Maritime Boundary Delimitation, by W. Michael Reisman and Gayle S. Westerman, American Journal of International Law 87, no. 4 (1993): 676–80, https://doi.org/10.2307/2203628.
Sean Murphy, “Ambulatory Versus Fixed Baselines Under the Law of the Sea,” American University Law Review 38, no. 3 (2023): Article 11, https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr/vol38/iss3/11.
Snjólaug Árnadóttir, Climate Change and Maritime Boundaries: Legal Consequences of Sea Level Rise (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), 14. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009047906.
Sue Farran, “Seeking a Pragmatic and Creative Solution to the Challenge of Sea-Level Rise: The Case of Tuvalu,” Questions of International Law (July 21, 2023), https://www.qil-qdi.org/seeking-a-pragmatic-and-creative-solution-to-the-challenge-of-sea-level-rise-the-case-of-tuvalu/.
Suzanne Kingston, “Territoriality in EU (Taxation) Law: A Sacred Principle, or Dépassé?,” last modified 2015, SSRN, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2585994.
Tanaka, Yoshifumi. The International Law of the Sea. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
Tsung-Han Tai and Wenxian Qiu, “Assessing the Impact of Sea Level Rise on Maritime Entitlement and Delimitation: An Interdisciplinary Investigation through Legal and Technical Analysis,” Frontiers in Marine Science (2024), https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1448292.
Xuexia Liao, “Interaction between Delineation and Delimitation of the Continental Shelf beyond 200 NM,” in The Continental Shelf Delimitation Beyond 200 Nautical Miles: Towards a Common Approach to Maritime Boundary-Making (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021), 106, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108909112.009.
Yigal Allon, “Israel: The Case for Defensible Borders,” Foreign Affairs 55 (1976–77): 38–53, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/israel-case-defensible-borders.
Cases and other documents
Aegean Sea Continental Shelf (Greece v. Turkey), [1978] I.C.J. 3 (Judgment of Dec. 19).
Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), AOSIS Leaders Declaration on Sea Level Rise and Statehood, September 25, 2024, https://www.aosis.org/aosis-leaders-declaration-on-sea-level-rise-and-statehood/.
Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case (United Kingdom v. Norway), [1951] I.C.J. 116 (Judgment of Dec. 18).
Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case (United Kingdom v. Norway), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1951, 116.
Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration (Bangladesh v. India), 2014, 167 ILR 1, para. 339; Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal (Bangladesh/Myanmar), Judgment, ITLOS, [2012] 51 ILM 844, paras. 183–84.
Continental Shelf (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. Malta), [1985] I.C.J. 13, para. 49 (Judgment of June 3).
Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf (Barbados v. Trinidad and Tobago), 2006, XXVII RIAA 147, para. 223.
International Law Association, Baselines under the International Law of the Sea: Final Report of the Committee, Sofia Conference (2012), https://ilareporter.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Source-1-Baselines-Final-Report-Sofia-2012.pdf.
International Law Association, Final Report: Committee on International Law and Sea Level Rise, Athens Conference (2024), https://www.ila-hq.org/en/documents/final-report-committee-on-international-law-and-sea-level-rise-22-05-2024.
International Law Association. Committee on International Law and Sea Level Rise. Chaired by Davor Vidas. 2012–2024. https://www.ila-hq.org.
Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain), [2001] I.C.J. 40 (Judgment of Mar. 16).
South China Sea Arbitration (Philippines v. China), Merits, Award of 12 July 2016, XXXIII R.I.A.A. 153, para. 508.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “Small Island Developing States Are on the Frontlines of Climate Change – Here's Why,” Climate Promise, April 30, 2024, https://climatepromise.undp.org/news-and-stories/small-island-developing-states-are-frontlines-climate-change-heres-why.
United Nations, Draft Conclusions on Subsequent Agreements and Subsequent Practice in Relation to the Interpretation of Treaties, in Report of the International Law Commission, A/73/10 (2018), para. 51, https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/draft_articles/1_11_2018.pdf.
United Nations, Report of the International Law Commission: Chapter IX, Sea-Level Rise in Relation to International Law, A/76/10 (2021), https://legal.un.org/ilc/reports/2021/english/chp9.pdf.
United Nations, Sea-Level Rise in Relation to International Law: First Issues Paper by Bogdan Aurescu and Nilüfer Oral, Co-Chairs of the Study Group, International Law Commission, A/CN.4/740 (February 28, 2020), https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3853225.
United Nations, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, December 10, 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 397, art. 5.
United Nations, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, December 10, 1982, 1833 UNTS 3, art. 279.
Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening), [2014] I.C.J. 226 (Judgment of Mar. 31).