The Nova Scotia-Newfoundland Dispute over the Limits of Their Respective Offshore Areas

• Published in: Canadian Yearbook of international Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international
• Main Author: Hughes, Valerie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2001
• Subjects: Law; Political Science and International Relations; Newfoundland; Canada
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0069005800007372; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0069005800007372

Summary On May 17, 2001, an arbitral tribunal established by the minister for natural resources of the government of Canada issued its decision in Phase I of the dispute between the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador over the boundary dividing their respective offshore areas. The tribunal was required to determine in Phase I, in accordance with the principles of international law governing maritime boundary delimitation, whether the line dividing the offshore areas of the two provinces had been resolved by agreement. This note discusses the dispute settlement mechanism set up to deal with this issue and the arguments made by the parties before the tribunal, and it summarizes the decision of the tribunal.