Rachel Simonin

Case Brief #4

March 14, 2008

I. Title of Case:

Continental Shelf (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. Malta) ICJ 1985 #GL51

II. Facts or Situation: a. Decided June 3, 1985

b. The Libyan Arab Republic and the Republic of Malta were involved in a dispute

regarding the delimitation of the area of continental shelf between them. Libya believes that the

continental shelf belongs to the them because of natural prolongation of the land into the Sea,

and Malta believes the continental shelf belongs to them because of its location from their coast.

To settle the dispute, they decided on a Special Agreement which would allow the International

Court of Justice to come up with a resolution. Although both parties agree that the ICJ should

decide on what principles and rules of international law are applicable in this case, Malta

believes that the ICJ should be able to implement the rules by drawing a median line (to figure

out the delimitation of the continental shelf). Libya holds that it is not the court’s job to draw the

delimitation line; however, the court agrees with Malta and determines that the Special

Agreement does not suspend them from indicating a median line.

III. Questions or Issues:

a. What principles and rules of international law are applicable in this dispute?

b. Should the court examine the “rift-zone” of the continental shelf when deciding the

delimitation line?

c. Should the method of equidistance be used when deciding the delimitation line?

IV. Decision:

a. The ICJ decided that they have the ability to determine what principles and rules to

uphold, and also have the right to establish the delimitation line. The court decides to look at the

1982 United Nations Convention on the Law and Sea because both States agreed to it and signed

it. Even though the Convention has not been put into force yet, the ICJ comes to the conclusion

that the main determining factor of the delimitation line will be distance. The Convention allows

the courts to use their discretion in determining the median line.

b. The court decided against Libya’s claim of a “rift-zone” because the law (coming from

the 1982 United Nations Convention of Law and Sea) allows a State to claim continental shelf up

to as far as 200 miles from its coast. The “rift-zone” cannot be considered a natural boundary.

c. The court decided against Malta’s proposition of the method of equidistance when

determining the delimitation line. The court decides to use a different method to draw up the

median line and takes into account the lengths of the Parties’ coasts. The court decides not to

take into account the Maltese island of Filfla to eliminate disproportionate effects and adjusts the

median line accordingly.

V. Principles:

Simonin

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a. The ICJ used the principle of the distance and the idea of an economic zone when

deciding the delimitation of the continental shelf. The court uses Article 76 of the 1982 United

Nations Convention on the Law and Sea. This article states that distance does matter and the

continental shelf can not exceed a certain amount of nautical miles from the territorial sea. Even

though the Convention has not yet entered into force, both States signed it. This Convention also

gave the court discretion to determine a way to draw the median line and end the dispute (1982

Convention).

b. The 1982 Convention does not mention any other way to determine the delimitation of

continental shelves other than distance. A “rift-zone” was not mentioned.

c. Equidistance was not used because the 1982 Convention gives the court the right to use

discretion and apply principles and rules to determine the median line. The court decided that

the method of equidistance would not be fair and adjusted the median line based on coast length,

continental shelf distance, etc.

VI. Conclusion:

a. This case relates to international law because Libya and Malta decided to come to a

Special Agreement, allowing the ICJ to use principles and rules of international law to resolve

the dispute.

VII. Bibliography:

Continental Shelf (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. Malta) ICJ 1985 #GL51

1982 United Nations Convention on the Law and Sea. Full document available:

http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multi/texts/BH825.txt