Can Australia assert an Extended Continental Shelf off the Australian Antarctic Territory consistent with the Law of the Sea and within the constraints of the Antarctic Treaty?

Abstract

In May 2004, Australia confirmed to the United Nations its intention to make a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf ‘in relation to all relevant areas of extended continental shelf off the coast of Australia and its external territories’ by 16 November 2004. This submission, in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (‘LOSC’), will be Australia’s first step towards extending the outer limits of its legal continental shelf beyond two hundred nautical miles (and up to 350 nautical miles) from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. Whether the Australian Antarctic Territory (‘AAT’) will be included in this submission as part of Australia’s ‘external territories’ is at present unclear. As the Antarctic Claimant State with the first submission deadline, Australia must enter uncharted territory: it has the opportunity to address a range of politico-legal issues which are hitherto untested and to set a precedent for other Antarctic Claimant States to follow. This paper considers whether or not an Australian submission which does include AAT data would be consistent with the LOSC and within the constraints of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty. It examines disputes which may arise and considers whether or not Australia should make a partial submission which does not include AAT data. It recommends that Australia includes AAT data in its submission to demonstrate its commitment to maintaining its sovereign claim in Antarctica.