REPUBLIC of GUYANA V. REPUBLIC of SURINAME
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ARBITRATION UNDER ANNEX VII OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA REPUBLIC OF GUYANA v. REPUBLIC OF SURINAME REPLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA VOLUME I 1 APRIL 2006 REPLY OF GUYANA PART I Reply of Guyana TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME I Page CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 1 I. General Observations on Suriname’s Approach.........................................................2 II. Issues for the Tribunal ................................................................................................6 A. Points of Agreement..........................................................................................6 B. Points of Disagreement .....................................................................................7 III. The Structure of Guyana’s Reply .............................................................................12 CHAPTER 2 - JURISDICTION................................................................................................ 15 I. The Jurisdiction of the Tribunal To Delimit the Maritime Boundary ......................17 A. The Fixing of the Land Boundary Terminus at Point 61 in 1936...................17 B. Suriname’s Public Pronouncements that Point 61 Is the Land Boundary Terminus ...................................................................................20 C. Suriname’s Use of Point 61 in Setting the Limits of Its Oil Concessions................................................................................................21 D. Suriname Never Adopted a Land Boundary Terminus Other than Point 61 ......................................................................................................22 E. Point 61 Is Not “Inextricably Linked” to a 10° Line.......................................24 F. Article 9 of the 1982 Convention ....................................................................27 G. Partial Maritime Delimitation .........................................................................29 II. The Admissibility of Guyana’s Second and Third Submissions ..............................31 III. Conclusion ................................................................................................................32 CHAPTER 3 - THE GEOGRAPHICAL CIRCUMSTANCES ............................................. 33 I. The Shapes of the Relevant Coastlines.....................................................................36 A. The Shape of Guyana’s Coastline...................................................................37 B. The Shape of Suriname’s Coastline ................................................................38 II. The Lengths of the Relevant Coastlines ...................................................................39 A. Suriname’s Attempt To Lengthen Its Own Coastline.....................................40 B. Suriname’s Attempt To Shorten Guyana’s Coastline .....................................42 C. Suriname’s Flawed Method of Defining the Parties’ Relevant Coastlines...................................................................................................43 III. The Appurtenant and Relevant Maritime Areas .......................................................44 A. Determining the Appurtenant and Relevant Maritime Areas .........................44 i Reply of Guyana B. Suriname’s Approach......................................................................................46 IV. The Equitableness of the Provisional Equidistance Line..........................................47 A. The Division of the Relevant Maritime Area Effected by the Provisional Equidistance Line ...................................................................47 B. The Division of the Relevant Maritime Area Produced by Suriname’s “Angle Bisector”........................................................................................48 C. Suriname’s “Three Segments” of the Provisional Equidistance Line.............49 D. Suriname’s Equidistance Boundary with French Guiana ...............................51 V. Assessing the Equitableness of the Boundary Lines Claimed by the Parties ...........53 A. Suriname Has Failed To Show “Special Circumstances”...............................54 B. The Division of the Relevant Maritime Area Produced by a N10E Boundary Line ...........................................................................................55 C. The Division of the Relevant Maritime Area Resulting from a Boundary Line of N34E.............................................................................56 VI. Conclusion ................................................................................................................56 CHAPTER 4 - THE CONDUCT OF THE PARTIES............................................................. 59 I. The Parties’ Differing Views on the Relevance of Conduct.....................................59 II. The Parties’ Conduct in Relation to Point 61 ...........................................................61 III. The Parties’ Conduct in Relation to Suriname’s Claimed 10° Line .........................61 A. Suriname’s Claim of a 10° Line in the Territorial Sea ...................................62 B. The Equitableness of the Delimitation Produced by the 10° Line ..................62 IV. The Parties’ Conduct in Relation to an Equidistance Line, Including the 34° Line Claimed by Guyana ..........................................................................................66 A. The Conduct of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.............................66 B. The Conduct of Suriname ...............................................................................70 C. The Conduct of Guyana ..................................................................................74 V. Conclusion ................................................................................................................78 CHAPTER 5 - THE APPLICABLE LAW............................................................................... 79 I. Single Maritime Boundary........................................................................................81 II. The Significance of Certain Geographic Factors......................................................85 A. The 1982 Convention and International Law Do Not Allow the Tribunal to Apportion Maritime Areas by Reference to General Considerations of Equity............................................................................88 B. The 1982 Convention and International Law Do Not Correct the Effects of History and Geography by a Redistribution of Territorial or Jurisdictional Maritime Zones in Favour of States that Claim to be “Geographically Disadvantaged”....................................91 ii Reply of Guyana C. The 1982 Convention and International Law Do Not Empower the Tribunal to Refashion the Geographical Situation of the Parties .............92 D. The 1982 Convention and International Law Allow History and Conduct To Be Taken into Account in Delimiting Maritime Spaces ......................................................................................................100 III. The Parties Have Not Inherited Agreement on a Delimitation of the Territorial Sea Along the 10° Line .........................................................................101 CHAPTER 6 - DELIMITATION OF THE TERRITORIAL SEA ..................................... 105 I. The Parties Agree that Point 61 Is the Starting Point for the Delimitation of the Territorial Sea ...................................................................................................106 II. The Delimitation of the Territorial Sea Is to Follow the Line of N34E from Point 61 Unless Suriname Can Establish the Existence of Special Circumstances.........................................................................................................107 III. The Parties Are in Broad Agreement on the Location of the Provisional Equidistance Line in the Territorial Sea .................................................................109 IV. There is No Special Circumstance Justifying a Departure from the Provisional or Historical Equidistance Line in Suriname’s Favour........................111 A. Navigation Is Not a Special Circumstance ...................................................112 B. By the Early 1960s It Was Clear that the N10E Line Was Not Justifiable as a Special Circumstance Because There Was No Navigation Along that Potential Route....................................................115 C. The N10E Line Was Never Argued as a Special Circumstance Beyond a Distance of Three Miles from the Territorial Sea...................116 V. The Coordinates of the Historical Equidistance Line in the Territorial Sea...........117 CHAPTER 7 - THE DELIMITATION OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF AND EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE............................................................................. 119 I. The Significance of the Applicable Law and Established Approaches to Delimiting the Continental Shelf and EEZ .............................................................120 II. The Parties Agree on the Location of the Provisional Equidistance Line for the Continental Shelf and EEZ ...............................................................................123 III. The Geography and Relevant Circumstances Justify A Shift in the Provisional Equidistance Line to N34E..................................................................126 IV. History and the Conduct of the Parties