The South China Sea Award—The Legal Dimension

Introduction

The Arbitral Award in the Philippines/China South China Sea disputes issued on 12 July 2016 has been one of the most anticipated decisions of an international tribunal in recent times. The Award has the potential to irrevocably transform the legal landscape underpinning the South China Sea. Given the complex and multi-faceted nature of the legal aspects of the South China Sea disputes, it is important that the significant findings in the Award be examined to truly understand what the Award means for the South China Sea and its implications for future dispute resolution.

To this end, the Centre for International Law (CIL) organized a Conference on “The South China Sea Award: The Legal Dimension” on 5-6 January 2017. The Conference brought together the world’s leading experts to discuss the legal reasoning and findings in the Award on issues such as jurisdiction, historic rights, status and entitlement of features, artificial islands and installations, the protection of the marine environment, procedure and implications of the Award for UNCLOS dispute settlement. The Conference was chaired by Professor S Jayakumar (Chairman, CIL International Advisory Panel), Professor Tommy Koh (Chairman, CIL Governing Board), Professor Lucy Reed (Director, CIL) and Professor Robert Beckman (Head, Oceans Law and Policy Programme). The Conference was limited to invited guests and held under the Chatham House Rule.

Structure of Conference

The Conference was chaired by Professor S Jayakumar (Chairman, CIL International Advisory Panel) and Professor Tommy Koh (Chairman, CIL Governing Board). It consisted of six sessions over the course of 1.5 days on 5 and 6 January 2017. Each session was 90 minutes and each session featured 1 chairperson and 2-3 speakers. Presentations from the Speakers took up the first 45 minutes of the session and the remaining 45 minutes were spent on discussion and questions from the Participants.

Materials

Programme Summary of the Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility (dated 29 October 2015)

Summary of the Final Award dated (12 July 2016)

Speakers Profiles

Presentations

Session 1 on Jurisdictional Issues – Presentation by Robert Beckman

Session 1 on Jurisdictional Issues – Presentation by Stuart Kaye

Session 2 on Historic Rights – Presentation by Clive Symmons

Session 3 on Entitlement of Rocks and Islands – Presentation by Myron Nordquist

Session 3 on Entitlement of Rocks and Islands – Presentation by Franckx

Session 4 on Installations of Artificial Islands and Structures – Presentation by J Ashley Roach

Session 4 on Installations of Artificial Islands and Structures – Presentation by Youna Lyons

Session 5 on Marine Environmental Protection- Presentation by Nilufer Oral

Session 6 on Implications of the Award – Presentation by Lucy Reed