Dispute Settlement in the Law of the Sea Convention and Territorial and Maritime Disputes in Southeast Asia: Issues, Opportunities, and Challenges

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) provides for a dispute settlement regime that establishes a compulsory and binding framework for the peaceful settlement of all ocean-related disputes. In Southeast Asia, despite the long-standing myriad of territorial and maritime disputes, there appears to be a general reluctance to utilize the dispute settlement provisions of LOSC. The region has very little experience in international litigation involving territorial and maritime disputes, and a reluctance to utilize the dispute settlement provisions of LOSC. While the LOSC legal framework offers some options, the highly complicated nature of the disputes in the region, especially those pertaining to the overlapping and conflicting claims over the South China Sea, cultural factors, and other pragmatic considerations, test the limits of international law and obscure the possibility of a legal solution.