해양환경보호 관련 ITLOS 입장과 간척사건 분석

Abstract

The Law of the Sea Convention, which was adopted in 1982 by the 3rd United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, has been called the "Constitution of the Oceans." This Convention not only extended maritime jurisdiction of coastal states through newly codified EEZ and Continental Shelf, but also adopted provisions on marine environmental protection and preservation. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea(ITLOS) was established by the Law of the Sea Convention. However, since its establishment, the ITLOS has heard only 15 cases for the past 13 years. Most of the cases were brought by the owners or flag states of the ships which were captured by a coastal state. On the other hand, there were 3 marine environmental cases including the Case Concerning Land Reclamation by Singapore in and around the Straits of Johor between Malaysia and Singapore(The Reclamation case). Malaysia requested the ITLOS provisional measures before the constitution of arbitral court. In its order, however, the ITLOS advised close cooperation between the states parties to the dispute. It advised also to form a Group of Experts to study the environmental impacts caused by the reclamation works by Singapore and to facilitate exchange of information between them. This practical and soft approach adopted by the Tribunal was proved to be useful in solving the dispute. Based on the study submitted by the Group of Experts, Malaysia and Singapore negotiated and reached an agreement to settle their dispute. In the Reclamation case, the applicant had not deep concern on environmental protection. But the ITLOS viewed the case mainly from the perspectives of marine environmental protection. Although the states parties to the dispute anticipated all or nothing decision on the case, ITLOS opted soft and practical method. These are why we are expecting more meaningful role from the ITLOS in the future.