The utilisation of resources in disputed waters: possible mechanisms for co-operation in the South China Sea

This essay examines the legal possibilities for State co-operation in the exploitation of living and non-living resoures in the South China Sea pending maritime delimitation between the littoral States. It also critically examines aspects of the July 2016 merits award delivered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Philippines-People's Republic of China arbitration, particularly its interpretation of Article 121(3) of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea regarding the meaning of an "island" for the purposes of the law of the sea, concluding that the PCA's interpretation is not persuasive.