Significance of the Permanent Court of Arbitration judgment of 12 July 2016 in the South China Sea Case no 2013–19 to selected issues of international law of the sea

Abstract

South China Sea Arbitration case No 2013–19 was an arbitration case brought by the Philippines against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration. As China did not accept the arbitration initiated by the Philippines, what significance can bear this PCA ’s judgment? The 501 pages-long award on such an important matter as adjudicated thereof contains a lot of new insights on international law of the Sea and related fields. In this case note, we highlight some of the most interesting legal issues addressed by the Court. First, we outline international legal norms applicable to each question. Then, we present how the Court interpreted them and applied to given circumstances of the case. After presenting final holdings on each of selected issues, we refer to opinions of legal scholars and jurists to indicate, how reasoning adopted by the Court may affect application of international law in similar cases.

Keywords

• the international law of the Sea
• the Permanent Court of Arbitration
• ‘military activities’