In April 2025, Greece announced its first marine spatial planning (MSP), accompanied by an official map which divides the Ionian and the Aegean Seas into four different spatial units (See here for the official announcement in Greek – The map is further provided and explained below). While MSP in Greece had been under discussion for years, prompted by Greece’s obligations under EU Directive 2014/89/EU, this announcement marks the first time Greece has officially mapped the entirety of its maritime claims. While MSP is primarily a domestic tool for environmental coordination and resource management, its adoption in a legally contested maritime space necessarily raises issues of international law and the law of the sea. This post explores the legal relevance of Greece’s MSP from the perspective of international law. First, it introduces the concept of MSP and the context of its publication. Second, it analyses the evidentiary function of maps in boundary disputes, focusing on how such instruments can contribute to the stabilisation of legal claims. Finally, it considers the role of MSP…
Maritime Delimitation
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The Al Yasat Marine Protected Area Dispute
1. Introduction The Al Yasat Marine Protected Area (MPA) has become the latest flashpoint in a wider quarrel concerning the maritime boundaries between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Arabian Gulf. See the KSA’s note verbale (A/78/824) and the UAE’s response (A/78/886). The dispute can…
Extended Continental Shelf of the United States: A Landmark Announcement and Its Implications
In December 2023, The U.S. Department of State has released information about the outer limits of its extended continental shelf (ECS). The delineation of the ECS outer limits represents the largest offshore mapping effort ever undertaken by the United States, requiring two decades of extensive collection of marine geophysical data. The outcome of this project is the delineation…
The Recognition of a Customary Rule of International Law in NICOL II – A Redundant Exercise?
In Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 Nautical Miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (NICOL II), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) observed a general trend in which coastal States had “chosen not to assert” outer continental shelf entitlement “within 200 nautical miles of the baselines of another…
A Commentary on the 2023 Nicaragua v Colombia case
On 13 July 2023, the International Court of Justice (ICJ or the Court) handed down its long-awaited judgment on the merits in the Nicaragua v Colombia case concerning the delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200 nm. An overview of the judgment and observations upon it by Hilde Woker have already been posted on this blog.
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