Barbados v. Trinidad and Tobago

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Barbados v. Trinidad and Tobago
Barbados maritime.tiff
Maritime of Barbados showing (southern) U.N. instituted boundary
CourtAn arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII to the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea
Full case nameAn Arbitration before an arbitral tribunal constituted pursuant to article 287, and in accordance with Annex VII, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea between Barbados and The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
DecidedApril 11, 2006
Court membership
Judges sitting Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, president
Mr. Ian Brownlie CBE QC
Professor Vaughan Lowe
Professor Francisco Orrego Vicuña
Sir Arthur Watts
Case opinions
Decision byUnanimous panel

Barbados v. Trinidad and Tobago was a 2006 arbitral case between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago in which the tribunal resolved the maritime border dispute between the two countries. The dispute was arbitrated before an arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in which the Permanent Court of Arbitration served as registry. [1]

Contents

Background

In 1990, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago signed a maritime boundary treaty. The treaty purported to assign to Trinidad and Tobago ocean territory that Barbados claimed as its own. The countries were unable to resolve their dispute for 14 years. In 2004, Barbados elected to force the issue into binding arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The arbitral tribunal heard the case.

Tribunal award

The tribunal's award was issued on 11 April 2006. The boundary was set nearly midway between the land of the two island countries. Although neither country's claimed boundary was adopted by the court, the boundary that was set was closer to that claimed by Trinidad and Tobago. Both countries claimed victory after the arbitration award was announced. [2]

See also

Notes

  1. "Arbitral Tribunal Award (archived)" (PDF). PCA. April 11, 2006. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. Dawne Bennett, "Barbados and Trinidad both claim victory in maritime dispute ruling" Archived 2010-03-29 at the Wayback Machine , Caribbean News Net, 2006-04-13.

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