Research On The Obligations Of The Parties Before The Delimitation Of The Disputed Sea

For the parties to the disputed sea areas that have not reached a final delimitation agreement,with the advancement of technology and the increase in resource requirements,there will be a need for mineral resource development or seismic surveys in the disputed sea areas,but no matter which kind of demand,all parties shall comply with their obligations.Obligations to follow are mainly provided by Articles 74(3)and 83(3)of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.Paragraph 3 establishes two obligations that should be followed before delimitation of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf between opposite or adjacent coasts.Those are,positive obligations and negative obligations.The provisions of positive obligations are expressed as "make every effort to enter into provisional arrangements of a practical nature" and the negative obligations are expressed as "not to jeopardize or hamper the reaching of the final agreement".In the interpretation and application of international judicial and arbitration institutions and the parties' fulfillment of positive and negative obligations,they often get into trouble because of the unclear expression of the two obligations,which ultimately makes it difficult to determine the boundaries of the two obligations.By analyzing the relevant cases of the International Court of Justice,The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea,and the Ad hoc arbitral tribunal,it can be seen that the court and the tribunal's attitude to this issue and the way to identify positive and negative obligations.Representative cases are the Cameroon and Nigeria Land and Sea Boundary Cases of the International Court of Justice in 1998,the Permanent Court of Arbitration of Guyana and Suriname in 2004,and Case No.23 of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea,Case No.23 Ghana and the C?te d Ivoire,Atlantic Demarcation Case.The case played an important role in analyzing the terms related to positive and negative obligations.In combination with the scholars' discussion on the positive obligation of "make every effort" "provisional""arrangements of a practical nature" and negative obligations of "not to jeopardize or hamper"and"final agreement",the interpretation of the terms related to these two obligations makes the overall meaning of the two obligations clarified.The meaning of positive obligations requires the parties to negotiate in good faith based on the spirit of understanding and cooperation before the final delimitation agreement is reached,in order to reach an operable agreement that can alleviate thecontradiction between the two parties.The negative obligation requires that the party concerned should not conduct activities that sharply aggravate the conflict,and the party conducting the activities should be willing to share the relevant benefits brought by the activities in good faith as far as possible and allow the process of the activities to be known by the other party.The interpretation of both positive and negative obligations will help the international judicial and arbitration institutions get out of the predicament caused by the applicable provisions,and it will be more useful to guide the parties in dispute to review their actions before reaching a delimitation agreement.More importantly,in the context of the current issue of maritime delimitation disputes between China and neighboring countries,combined with China's "shelving differences and seeking joint development",it can bring inspiration to China's compliance with positive and negative obligations in disputed seas.China should insist on good-faith negotiations,and strive to call on the countries in dispute to return to the negotiating table and strive to reach interim arrangements,especially joint development agreements.While avoiding aggravating the conflict,China should also be alert to the exploitation trend of other countries,which is conducive to the proper settlement of the maritime delimitation disputes between China and its neighbors in the south China sea and east China sea,so as to achieve a win-win situation for all countries.