Territorial disputes in South China Sea: Making sense of the relevant laws ( Copy Right @ Singapore Press Holdings)
Pic courtesy- Wikimedia Commons What laws are applicable to the South China Sea? The answer is that the South China Sea is governed by international law, particularly, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). All the claimant states, namely, Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, are parties to Unclos. They are, therefore, bound by Unclos and should not assert rights and jurisdictions which are inconsistent with it. They are also under a legal obligation to ensure that their domestic laws are consistent with Unclos. What law is applicable to the determination of sovereignty disputes over territory? The applicable law is not Unclos but the customary international law governing the acquisition and loss of territory. Can a claimant country use history as the basis of its sovereignty claim to the islands in the South China Sea? History is a relevant factor in determining which state has the better claim to sovereignty over a dispu