加纳和科特迪瓦大西洋海洋划界案述评

Comment on the Judgment of Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Cte d'Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean

2017年9月23日,国际海洋法法庭特别分庭就加纳和科特迪瓦大西洋海洋划界案作出最终裁决。分庭在认定本案中是否存在海洋划界的默示协议时遵循了司法判例中极高的证明标准,区分了石油开采线和海洋界线,认定本案中不存在海洋划界的默示协议。分庭在领海、专属经济区和大陆架划界中都适用了司法判例中支持的等距离/有关情况方法,在具体的划界过程中分庭也基本遵循了司法判例中的一些标准,包括识别相关海岸、相关海域、基点和相关情况等的标准。本案对海洋划界具有重要的继承与发展意义。

The Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea made the final decision on Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Cte d＇Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean on September 23, 2017. When deciding whether there exist a tacit agreement on maritime boundary, the Chamber, following the high proof standard developed in the judicial precedents, distinguished the oil concession limits from the maritime boundary, thus concluding that tacit agreement on maritime boundary did not exist. The Chamber applied the methods of equidistance/relevant circumstances to delimit the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. And it also observed some standards developed in jurisprudence in the specific process of delimitation, including the identification standards of relevant coast, relevant area, base points and relevant circumstances. This case has significant meaning of inheritance and development for maritime delimitation.