Abstract

State practice reveals that the main reason states conclude maritime delimitation agreements is their desire to reap the benefits accruing from offshore natural resources, especially hydrocarbons. However, international jurisprudence has not expressly taken nongeographical factors into consideration in delimitation cases, even though it has also not totally disregarded them. Since such factors individually have been in the judges’ minds, it is suggested that if a state is capable of proving that these factors indicate the existence of fundamental interests in an undelimited area, all of those should be contemplated in accumulation and form a distinct concept, namely, the “predominant interest.” In a nutshell, the concept analyzed in this article refers to the aggregation of a gamut of nongeographical factors that, although they have not been taken into consideration separately in delimitation cases, tend to evince the existence of fundamental interests, which form a broader one, namely, the “predominant interest.” This article proposes that the “predominant interest” concept could be utilized by international courts and tribunals in order to check the equitableness of a maritime boundary at the second stage of the delimitation process concerning the continental shelf/exclusive economic zone (EEZ), after relevant circumstances predicated on geographical factors have been examined. In any case, though, it is asserted that this concept should not be invoked so as to justify excessive claims. To the contrary, it should be applied in support of contentions made in good faith with a view to safeguarding the essential interests of a state.

摘要

国家实践表明，各州签订海洋划界协议的主要原因是他们希望从海上自然资源（尤其是碳氢化合物）中获得收益。但是，国际判例没有在划界案件中明确考虑非地理因素，即使它也没有完全忽略它们。由于这些因素分别存在于法官的脑海中，因此建议如果一个国家能够证明这些因素表明在无限制范围内存在基本利益，则应将所有这些因素考虑在内并形成一个独特的概念。 ，即“主要利益”。简而言之，本文分析的概念是指非地理因素的范围之和，尽管在划界案件中未将它们分开考虑，但它们倾向于表明存在基本利益，而基本利益构成了更广泛的利益，即“主要利益”。本文建议，国际法院和法庭可以使用“主要利益”概念，以便在有关的大陆架/专属经济区（EEZ）划界过程的第二阶段检查海洋边界的公平性。已经检查了根据地理因素预测的情况。但是，无论如何，都认为不应援引该概念以证明过多的主张。相反，应将其用于支持真诚提出的争端，以维护国家的根本利益。