UNCLOS

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Can Argentina Bring UNCLOS Proceedings Against the UK Concerning the Exploitation of Hydrocarbon Resources in the North Malvinas Basin?

On 28 September 2026, Argentina’s President announced that he had instructed its Foreign Ministry and the government’s legal teams to institute arbitral proceedings against the United Kingdom under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (UNCLOS). Argentina seeks to prevent the exploitation of hydrocarbon resources in the ‘North Malvinas Basin’ through the project known as Sea Lion. Giving the UK two weeks to adopt necessary measures to halt Sea Lion, Argentina added that it would seek provisional measures from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to preserve its sovereign rights over its continental shelf. This post offers a preliminary assessment of the procedural hurdles to Argentina’s anticipated claims before the tribunal, in light of this announcement. We begin by briefly providing a background to the dispute. Afterwards, we address the possible challenges to Argentina’s anticipated claims and provisional measures request, considering the limits of subject-matter jurisdiction under UNCLOS. We then ask what else could…

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Access to the Logbook: How Autonomous Ships Complicate the Flag State’s Ability to Fulfill its Article 94 UNCLOS Obligation

On 1 July 2026, the IMO's non-mandatory International Code of Safety for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships took effect. The Code provides guidelines for maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS), or ships that, to various extents, operate independently of direct human control and are overseen or remotely controlled by humans in remote operations centres (ROCs), where the data,…

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Two Weeks in Review: 10—21 August 2026

As we swelter through late summer, a hardy few have retained a cool hold over their critical faculties. In the last two weeks, attention has turned chiefly to the ICC: from the in absentia convictions of members of the Rapid Support Forces, to the removal of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, and a decision recognising that a State Party…

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Can “Safety Zones” provide Safety to Critical Submarine Cables?

Following the submarine cable cuts in the Baltic Sea, the Australian Federal Police was urged to commence an investigation at the behest of Subco, a private submarine cable operator, concerning the damage to two submarine cables. On the second August weekend, technicians detected faults on two submarine cables in an offshore area located in Australia’s EEZ.

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Institutional Discretion, Due Process and the Common Heritage of Humankind: The First Provisional Measures Orders in NORI and TOML v. the Authority

The first contentious proceedings ever brought before the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (the Chamber) concern far more than a procedural dispute between two contractors and the International Seabed Authority (the Authority). They represent the first judicial examination of the legal limits of the Authority’s discretion when exercising the supervisory…

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