Il confine marino: unità o pluralità?

The book explores a little studied aspect of the law of the sea and maritime delimitation: the delimitation of boundaries of overlapping or consecutive zones and the choice that States and judges have to face between a single and a multiple maritime boundary. The topic is addressed on the basis of a thorough examination of relevant international practice, in the form of state practice as incorporated in delimitation treaties and the United nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and judicial decisions by the International Court of Justice and arbitral tribunals. The book proposes a novel conceptual approach to maritime delimitation, whereby delimitation has to be envisaged as operating on a three-dimensions material (the sea, divided horizontally into maritime areas and vertically into three “layers”). The ensuing delimitation line, be it a single- or multiple-line boundary, will be an outcome not only of the traditional factors affecting maritime delimitation, but also of the relevance given to different maritime layers and zones. The book further distinguishes the often-confused notions of single-line maritime boundary and all-purpose maritime boundary. In conclusion, the monograph provides law of the sea scholars, practitioners and state officials with a clear conceptual tool to address issues of delimitation affecting more than one maritime zone and/or more than one maritime layer.