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The interpretation of Article 121(3) of the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was a key part of the Sino-Philippine Arbitration on the South China Sea Award issued in July 2016. T...

A principal aspect of the territorial and boundary delimitation disputes in the South China Sea is the so-called U-shaped line. This article addresses the genesis and substantiation of the U-shaped line claims as well as the possible change in positions of the governments of the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China with respect to the historical waters claim, which is an integral part of their U-shaped line positions. A legal analysis of the various communications of the South China Sea players with respect to the U-shaped line helps to clarify and identify the nature of four kinds of legal disputes. It is also possible to differentiate the various degrees of difficulty involved in settling each of these disputes.

The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) was established in accordance with Article 76 of the Law of the Sea Convention. CLCS has the mandate to consider data submitted by coastal states concerning the outer limits of their continental shelf in areas where those limits extend beyond 200 nautical miles and to make recommendations to the submitting state on matters related to the establishment of the limits. For third parties that have actual or potential disputes, unresolved borders, or unresolved land or maritime disputes with the submitting state, the recommendations of the CLCS can be very sensitive. The focus of this article is on the practice of third parties in responding to submissions and how third parties have constructed their Notifications.

Although the term and concept of fishing entities is in the 1995 U.N. Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA), it is through the regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) that fishing entities may receive benefits and rights to fish and other matters. Three RFMOs (the Commission for the Conservation of Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), and the Commission on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC)) have gone through the process of either amending or redrafting their constituent instruments or adopting a specific resolution for the purposes of implementing the UNFSA. This paper reviews how and to what extent these three RFMOs have incorporated fishing entities into the constituent instruments by examining the various mechanisms for settling disputes involving fishing entities.