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The sovereignty of islands: a contemporary methodology for the determination of rights over natural maritime resources

ABSTRACT " Once it was said that the law followed the flag. Now, international law is everywhere. Its influence increases. " Sovereignty is no longer an intra-national concept within International Law. It now involves a greater consideration of issues concerning the global community. This thesis develops a practical methodology for the determination of sovereignty over maritime natural resources. Customary international law regarding the use of resources within the maritime zones of islands on the high seas is rapidly developing. Traditional tests, such as the discovery and occupation of islands, are no longer the primary focus of the determination of sovereignty. The methodology expressed in this thesis is an application and adaptation of the current state of the international laws regarding islands within the high seas. This argument has its foundation in the new international treaties, recent decisions of the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. It unifies the latest determinations and theoretical legal perspectives of these bodies to produce a single methodology. This work provides an original and substantial contribution to the knowledge and understanding of sovereignty issues within International Law. The Chapters of this thesis and their sub-headings progressively illuminate the individual elements of a distinctive formula for determining the sovereignty of islands within the high seas. The Chapters form a template for this methodology, which is applied to the Falkland Islands. Thus, each chapter is a step towards the determination of sovereignty. This modus operandi can be applied to new disputes in this realm, such as those filed with the International Court of Justice. Since 1982, the definitive ownership of the Falkland Islands proper has been determined, if not by International Law, then by warfare. However, conflict over the use of natural resources in the maritime zones continues.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/264805
Date January 2003
CreatorsKatter, Dominic Henley
PublisherQueensland University of Technology
Source SetsAustraliasian Digital Theses Program
Detected LanguageEnglish
RightsCopyright Dominic Henley Katter

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