Article: Arbitrating the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea: The Latest Round between Timor-Leste and Australia

Donald K. Anton 

Australian National University - ANU College of Law

December 8, 2013

ANU College of Law Research Paper No. 13-20

Abstract:

This brief article details the latest in a long-running dispute between Timor-Leste and Australia over rights to resources in the seabed and subsoil below the sea between their coastlines. Having been closed out of the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Timor-Leste is now seeking to arbitrate its dissatisfaction with current arrangements under a provision in the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS). Potential claims of fraud, breach of good faith, and unlawful intervention mean that it is possible; perhaps likely, that CMATS will be declared invalid or void. Much will depend on the evidence, however. Australia now finds itself in a difficult situation and the dispute is likely to continue and fester absent good will on the part of both parties. The most just course of action at this point could be to allow an independent third party to finally make a judicial determination of the seabed boundaries of between Timor-Leste and Australia in order to achieve and equitable solution, create certainty about rights, and bring an end to this continuing saga.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 9

Disponível em: <http://ssrn.com/abstract=2364996>. Acesso em 27 jan. 2014.