The Barents Sea 2010 Norway-Russia Border: The Triumph of the Negotiation Principle at the Expense of the Median- and Sector Line Pretentions

• Published in: The Yearbook of Polar Law Online
• Main Author: Ørebech, Peter
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Brill 2012
• Subjects: Barents Sea; Norway; Yearbook of Polar Law
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22116427-91000101; https://brill.com/view/journals/yplo/4/1/article-p505_22.xml; https://data.brill.com/files/journals/22116427_004_01_S22_text.pdf

Abstract The delimitation line that after 40 years of negotiation (2010) marks the offshore border between Norway and Russia is resulting from longstanding talks according to the negotiation principle as manifest in UNCLOS (1982) Article 74 and 83. Beyond the territorial sea the function of the median (equidistance)- and the sector line is nothing but diplomatic pretensions at the negotiation table. This article illustrates the demise of the sector line as a delimitation principle of the law of the sea in the Barents Sea. The reference point of the outcome of the negotiation is not geodetic nor geographic physical points, but simply the “half way solution” between two politically based claims, the sector line (Russia) and the median line (Norway). This solution is not contradictory to court practice.