Dear Mike,
Australia included areas of the continental shelf of the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) in its submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf; however, recalling the principles and objectives of both the Antarctic Treaty and UNCLOS, it asked the Commission not to consider those areas for the time being (see the final two pages of the executive summary of Australia's submission at http://tinyurl.com/67oazf). The Australian government map to which you refer (http://www.ga.gov.au/image_cache/GA11214.pdf) shows Australia's claimed EEZ off Antarctica (which is of no concern to the CLCS) but not its claimed continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from its Antarctic baselines; the area of continental shelf on the map that abuts the AAT EEZ is the continental shelf of the Heard-McDonald islands rather than the continental shelf of the AAT.
Parties to the Antarctic Treaty are not permitted to make new claims to Antarctic territory, or to extend existing claims. My understanding is that Australia believes that its continental shelf submission does not represent an extension of an existing claim because, under Article 77 of UNCLOS, the rights of a coastal state over the continental shelf do not depend on any express proclamation. In other words, assuming Australia has sovereignty over land territory in Antarctica, it automatically has sovereign rights over the resources of the continental shelf off that territory to the outer edge of the continental margin - and its submission to the CLCS therefore simply represents a clarification of the extent of the area over which it has sovereign rights. However, the fact that the Australian government decided not to ask the Commission to consider its Antarctic continental shelf submission for the time being suggests a recognition that its views may not be universally shared.
Regards,
m a r t i n
==============================
Martin Pratt
Director of Research
International Boundaries Research Unit
Department of Geography
Durham University
Durham DH1 3LE
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)191 334 1964
Fax: +44 (0)191 334 1962
[log in to unmask]
www.dur.ac.uk/ibru
==============================
> -----Original Message-----
> From: International boundaries discussion list [mailto:INT-
> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mike Beidler
> Sent: 25 April 2008 01:10
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [INT-BOUNDARIES] Australia's extended continental shelf.
>
> The .pdf file provided by the Commonwealth of Australia that depicts Australia's
> continental shelf confirmed by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
> shows something I find quite interesting: the recognition of Australian territorial waters
> along the coast of the Australiian AntarcticTerritory as well as exclusive rights to the
> adjacent continental shelf south of 60šS latitude.
>
> I confess, I'm ignorant as to the relationship between the 1961 Antarctic Treaty and the
> UN, so any illumination on this topic would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Best,
>
> Mike Beidler
> The Creation of an Evolutionist Blog
> http://thecreationofanevolutionist.blogspot.com
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