Under the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, States have sovereign rights over the resources of their continental shelf out to 200 nautical miles from the coast. Where the physical shelf extends beyond 200 nautical miles, States may exercise rights over those resources to the outer limits of the continental shelf. More than 80 States may be entitled to claim sovereign rights over their continental shelf where it extends beyond 200 nautical miles from their coast, and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is currently examining many of these claims. This book examines the nature of the rights and obligations of coastal States in this area, with a particular focus on the options for regulating activities on the extended continental shelf. Because the extended continental shelf lies below the high seas, the area poses unique legal challenges for coastal States that are different from those faced in respect of the shelf within 200 nautical miles. In addition, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea imposes some specific obligations that coastal States must comply with in respect of the extended continental shelf. The book discusses the development of the concept of the extended continental shelf. It explores a range of issues facing the coastal State in regulating matters such as environmental protection, fishing, bioprospecting, exploitation of non-living resources and marine scientific research on the extended continental shelf. The book proposes a framework for navigating the intersection between the high seas and the extended continental shelf and minimising the potential for conflict between flag and coastal States.

The Continental Shelf Delimitation Beyond 200 Nautical Miles provides an up-to-date and informed analysis of the now fast developing, yet confusing, field of the law of maritime delimitation. It examines the procedural matters in relation to the competence of international courts and tribunals in the light of the institutional framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and discusses the methodological questions arising out of the delimitation process. The book engages with the key concepts of maritime entitlement, delineation and delimitation with a view to developing a coherent and consistent approach to the delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. Essentially, it argues that the delimitation of the continental shelf will be unified with existing maritime delimitation, and a common approach to maritime boundary-making within and beyond 200 nautical miles is likely to emerge.

In The Continental Shelf Beyond 200 Nautical Miles, Bjarni Már Magnússon explores various aspects of the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles and maritime boundary delimitations. Special emphasis is laid on the interplay between these processes and the role of coastal States, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and international courts and tribunals in this regard. Magnússon convincingly argues that despite the possibility for tension to arise the relationship between the relevant institutions and processes is clear and precise and they together form a coherent system where each separate institution plays its own part in a larger process.

In Establishing Continental Shelf Limits Beyond 200 Nautical Miles by the Coastal State: A Right of Involvement for Other States?, Busch discusses the possibilities for States other than the coastal State to intervene in the process of establishing final and binding continental shelf limits.

New Knowledge and Changing Circumstances in the Law of the Sea focuses on the challenges posed to the existing legal framework, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the various ways in which States are addressing these challenges.

Setting the scene, introduction, the United Nations convention o the law of the sea. Methodology, historical methods of positioning at sea. Establish the case, the practical realization of the continental shefl limit. Other issues, deep sea fan issues.