Nova Scotia-Newfoundland Dispute over Offshore Areas: The Delimitation Phase
Summary On March 26, 2002, an ad hoc arbitration tribunal determined the line of delimitation dividing the respective offshore areas of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and the province of Nova Scotia. In making its decision, the tribunal, which was established by the federal minister of na...
| Published in: | Canadian Yearbook of international Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2003
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0069005800008109 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0069005800008109 |
| Summary: | Summary On March 26, 2002, an ad hoc arbitration tribunal determined the line of delimitation dividing the respective offshore areas of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and the province of Nova Scotia. In making its decision, the tribunal, which was established by the federal minister of natural resources, applied the principles of international law governing maritime boundary delimitation and, pursuant to its terms of reference, treated the two provinces as if they were states subject to the same rights and obligations as the government of Canada. The tribunal had issued a Wrst decision in May 2001, ruling that the delimitation line had not already been established by agreement between the provinces, as Nova Scotia had contended. The tribunal’s decision on the boundary line is Wnal and binding on the two provinces. It awards to Newfoundland and Labrador the greater part of the offshore area that had been in dispute. The tribunal’s decision marked the end of the uncertainty created by the provincial disagreement and paved the way for the commencement of hydrocarbon exploration in the formerly disputed area. |
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