Bangladesh/Myanmar Case: Continuity and Novelty in the Law of Maritime Boundary Delimitation
![handle is hein.journals/cajoincla1 and id is 145 raw text is: DOI: 10.7574/cjicl.01.01.3
Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law (1)1: 137-152 (2012)
The Bangladesh/Myanmar Case:
Continuity and Novelty in the
Law of Maritime Boundary
Delimitation
Professor Robin Churchill
Keywords
Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea, maritime delimitation, outer continental
shelf, maritime boundaries, territorial sea boundaries, exclusive economic zones
1 Introduction
On 14 March 2012, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)
gave its judgment in the Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary
between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal (Bangladesh/Myanmar).
Although this case is listed as No. 16 in the ITLOS List of Cases, it is only the
second occasion on which the ITLOS has given a judgment on the merits of a
dispute, the first being the Saiga (No. 2) case (decided in 1999),2 and the first
time that the ITLOS has dealt with maritime boundary delimitation. The
latter subject has, however, been a popular one for litigation before other
Professor of International Law, University of Dundee.
Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Bounday between Bangladesh and Myanmar in
the Bay of Bengal (Bangladesh/Myanmar), Judgment of 14 March 2012 (hereafter referred to
simply as 'Judgment'), available on the website of the ITLOS at <http://www.itlos.org/filead
min/itlos/documents/cases/caseno_16/1-C16_judgment_14_022012.pdf> [last accessed
10 April 2012]. For early commentary on the case, see I. Papanicolopulu, 'From the North
Sea to the Bay of Bengal: Maritime Delimitation at the International Tribunal for the Law of
the Sea' EJIL: Talk!, 23 March 2012, available at <http://www.ejiltalk.org/from-the-north-
sea-to-the-bay-of-bengal-maritime-delimitation-at-the-international-tribunal-for-the-law-
of-the-sea!> [last accessed 2 April 2012].
2 The other 14 cases in the ITLOS list have concerned either provisional measures (four cases)
or the prompt release of vessels (nine cases), together with one substantive dispute (the
Swordfish case) which was settled out of court.
Copyright c the Author(s).
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Bangladesh/Myanmar Case: Continuity and Novelty in the Law of Maritime Boundary Delimitation
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