200海里以外大陆架外部界限划定中的自然延伸原则——兼评孟加拉湾海洋划界案

Nature Prolongation Principle in the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf beyond 200 Nautical Miles and a Review of Bangladesh v. Myanmar Case

存在陆块的自然延伸是沿海国主张200海里以外大陆架的首要条件。大陆架界限委员会在判断是否存在自然延伸的过程中采用的是以地形地貌属性为首要条件的认定标准,地质证据及其他地球物理信息往往被视为补充信息和辅助证据。地貌证据的说服性价值使大陆架界限委员会更倾向于以地貌证据衡量自然延伸存在与否。国际海洋法法庭认为自然延伸不是作为判断沿海国是否享有200海里以外大陆架权利基础的独立标准,这种解释仅适用于孟加拉湾的特殊情况。

The existence of natural prolongation of the land mass is a precondition lor a coastal state to claim the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf （CLCS） takes geomorphic characteristics as primary criteria when ascertaining whether there is natural prolongation, and geological evidence and other geophysical data are often regarded as supplementary information and subsidiary evidence. The persuasiveness of geomorphic information makes the CLCS more incline to measure natural prolongation by geomorphic criteria. It only applies to the special circumstance of Bengal Bay that natural prolongation is not an independent criterion for determining whether a coastal state is entitled to the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.