The International Law of the Sea

The concept of “historic rights” has been much discussed recently in the light of the arbitral award in the Philippines v. China case. The United Kingdom, as a major maritime power, has had long experience of dealing with claims about such rights and those which are similarly worded. This includes the seminal case of the Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries case in the International Court of Justice, as well as two other international decisions and a judgment of what is now the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU). In addition, the London Fisheries Convention and the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy seem to employ terminology to similar effect. Finally, it is interesting to speculate about whether claims to historic rights will be made by other EU Member States after BREXIT.