Conciliation and Article 298 Dispute Resolution Procedures under the Law of the Sea Convention

This chapter clarifies certain ideas about the practices of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), especially since the Philippines initiated the arbitration procedure against China in January 2013, a procedure in which China insists it will not participate. It also focuses on the application of the provisional arrangement in UNCLOS Article 74. States with maritime jurisdiction disputes should seek agreements to reach an equitable solution, and maritime delimitation would be the best option. However, such a solution might not be found easily in many disputed cases, where political posturing is diametrically opposed to the spirit of the UNCLOS. In order to resolve the disputes and better utilize resources, a provisional arrangement or a modus vivendi seems most feasible in the absence of a final resolution. Disputes emerging from the South China Sea are complicated since they include issues of island sovereignty, maritime delimitation, resource utilization, as well as non-traditional security.