6 The Continental Shelf
Dominic Roughton, Colin Trehearne
From: The IMLI Manual on International Maritime Law: Volume I: The Law of the Sea
Edited By: David J Attard, Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Norman A Martínez Gutiérrez
- Subject(s):
- Continental shelf — UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) — Marine living resources — Delimitation — Coastal states — International trade — Specific trade agreements — Lex ferenda — NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations)
The continental shelf is a challenging area of the Earth to analyse. It is as old as the bordering lands and as young as our knowledge of it; it is an imagined juridical space and a real physical phenomenon; it encompasses some of the most hotly disputed territory on Earth but is governed by one of the most widely accepted multilateral regimes in history; it holds the promise of economic growth for developing States and the fear of militarization for developed States. This Chapter seeks to outline the complex and often contradictory nature of the continental shelf...
