The Application of the Law of Occupation in Maritime Zones and Rights to ‘Occupied’ Marine Resources

What is it about?

The question of occupation of maritime zones has remained largely underexplored. In recent years this issue has gained some interest after the Court of Justice of the European Union’s decision concerning marine resources exploitation in the maritime zones of the coast of Western Sahara, and it is likely to receive even more attention in the future, considering the application of the Philippines to the prosecutor of the ICC with respect to “crimes” committed in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea._x000D_ This paper focuses on analyzing the jurisdiction of the occupying power to exploit marine resources which exists mainly in the continental shelf and the EEZ. This article offers a different perspective on this question, than has been employed so far. This perspective might lead to a better understanding, of not just the rights of the occupying and occupied states, but also of the problems that might occur due to this interaction, which have not been explored in the literature thus far. This paper seeks to contribute to the still sparse but emerging literature on the interaction between LOS and the laws of occupation, while highlighting some aspects that the current legal framework ignored._x000D_

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