The exclusive economic zone: criteria and machinery for the resolution of international conflicts between different users of the EEZ

Abstract

It is highly probable that one of the results of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea will be the recognition of a new jurisdictional zone—the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This 200-mile zone will be used for a variety of potentially conflicting purposes by both the coastal state and non-coastal states and it is therefore important to ensure that the new convention emerging from the conference should establish criteria and make provision for machinery for the resolution of the international conflicts between different users which will undoubtedly arise. This paper contains a critical analysis of the latest draft articles under consideration at the Conference and considers the criteria by reference to which disputes might be resolved.