Australia-Indonesia Sea-Bed Boundary Negotiations: Proposals for a Joint Development Zone in the "Timor Gap"

Abstract

The 1982 United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea provides little guidance on continental shelf delimitation. The Convention confirms that the continental shelf extends to the outer edge of the continental margin but also confers continental shelf rights out to 200 nautical miles independently of the existence of a continental margin. This dual basis for continental shelf jurisdiction, (the combination of the original concept based on geomorphology with the new jurisdiction based on distance alone) gives rise to difficulty where opposing states are separated by two shelves and the maximum claim of one state is based on geomorphology and that of the other state is based on distance. Faced with such an impasse, Australia and Indonesia are seeking to develop a joint development zone. This article explores some of the issues that need to be addressed in such a zone-issues that are particularly challenging between states having vastly different social and political systems.