In May 2013, Singapore was accepted as an Observer to the Arctic Council. This new opportunity for Singapore is the result of the Singapore government’s wide range of interests in the consequences of the annual reduction in the geographic scope of ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, including the rise of sea levels and an […]
CIL Guide to Arctic Issues for Arctic Council Observers (November 2018) Read More »
Ocean Law and Policy Programme Head Robert Beckman participated in the 10th South China Sea International Conference organised by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. The conference was held from 7 to 9 November 2018 in Da Nang, Vietnam. The 10th conference in this series was attended by more than 200 participants from Vietnam, the region and
Dr Tara Davenport participated in the Second Workshop on ‘Developing Options for the Implementation of the Due Regard and Reasonable Regard Obligations under UNCLOS’ held in Bangkok, Thailand on 29–30 October 2018. The workshop was the second one organised by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) to address the
The first joint maritime exercise between China and the 10 ASEAN member states was successfully carried out last week in China off the southern city of Zhanjiang, the home of the South Sea Fleet of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The exercise was co-organised by the Republic of Singapore Navy and PLAN, with participation
Why ASEAN Should Hold More Maritime Drills with China and US Read More »
Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons attended the 73rd meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The meeting took place from 22 to 26 October 2018. Ms Lyons was head of delegation of the Advisory Committee for the Protection Sea, an NGO with a consultative status at the IMO. In
Bringing together leading experts on the law of the sea, this book provides a detailed analysis of the significant aspects, findings and legal reasoning in the high-profile case of the South China Sea Arbitration between the Philippines and China. It examines major issues discussed in the Arbitration including jurisdiction, procedure, maritime entitlement, and the protection
The South China Sea Arbitration: The Legal Dimension Read More »
This article examines the origin and nature of the compulsory conciliation procedure under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and how it has played out in the conciliation between Timor-Leste and Australia—the first time this procedure has been triggered. The article identifies the features of the UNCLOS conciliation procedure—many
Southeast Asia, consisting of the ten Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has always been a uniquely maritime region. Indeed, its maritime nature has been characterised as the ‘first and primary unifying factor of Southeast Asia’. Nine out of the ten ASEAN States are coastal States, with the Philippines and Indonesia
Legal Implications of the ‘South China Sea Award’ for Maritime Southeast Asia Read More »
All the claimants in the South China Sea disputes have engaged in various degrees of island-building on many of the geographic features in the Spratly Islands. However, as noted by the Tribunal in the South China Sea Arbitration, none has been on the scale of Chinese island-building on the features which it occupies, which escalated
Island-Building in the South China Sea: Legality and Limits Read More »
The freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines, one of the most venerated high seas freedoms under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), faces an uncertain future under the new international legally binding instrument (ILBI) being negotiated in the United Nations. UN General Assembly Resolution 72/249, authorizing the intergovernmental
