Maritime delimitation dilemmas over Hans Island between Canada and Denmark
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32978/sjp.2021.009Keywords:
sovereignty, law of the sea, continental shelf, maritime boundary, territorial dispute, international law, Canada, Greenland, Lincoln SeaAbstract
Hans Island is situated in the Artic region, in the centre of the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait, which separates Canadian Ellesmere Island from Greenland and connects Baffin Bay with the Lincoln Sea. This tiny land has been causing long-lasting tensions between Canada and Greenland (an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark). The main problem is the sovereignty over the island. However, a number of other maritime law issues also arise due to the location of Hans Island.
References
Adjacent Territories Order (July 31st, 1880). (U.K.), reprinted in R.S.C. 1985, App. II, No. 14.
Agreement relating to the delimitation of the continental shelf between Greenland and Canada. Ottawa, 17 December 1973, https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20950/volume-950-I-13550-English.pdf (hereinafter: Delimitation Treaty) 25 May 2021.
Anna MCILROY: Hans off my island. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/aug/30/arctic, 13 November 2020.
Article from the page of Global Affairs Canada with following the title: Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark (with Greenland) announce the establishment
of a Joint Task Force on Boundary Issues. https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2018/05/canada-and-the-kingdom-of-denmark-with-greenland-announce-the-establishment-of-a-joint-task-force-on-boundary-issues.html, 21 December 2020.
Bob WEBER: Canada, Denmark should turn Hans Island into a condominium: academics, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/canada-denmark-shouldturn-hans-island-into-a-condominium-academics-1.3315640, 20 December 2020.
Canada island visit angers Danes. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4715245.stm, 10 December 2020.
Case concernincg the Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute (El Salvador/Honduras: Nicaragua intervening). Judegement of 11 September 1992, I.C.J.
Case concerning Sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan (Indonesia v. Malaysia). Judgement of 17 December 2002, 2002 I.C.J. 625,684, https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/102/102-20021217-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf, 30 October 2020.
Christopher STEVENSON: Hans Off!: The Struggle for Hans Island and the Potential Ramifications for International Border Dispute Resolution. Boston College International &Comparative Law Review 30 (2007), 263–275.
CSATLÓS Erzsébet: Az Arktisz nemzetközi jogi helyzete. PhD-értekezés, Szegedi Tudományegyetem, Állam- és Jogtudományi Doktori Iskola, Szeged, 2011, 23, 42.
CSATLÓS Erzsébet: Térség és terület a nemzetközi jogban. In: Jakab András – Fekete Balázs (szerk.): Internetes Jogtudományi Enciklopédia. Nemzetközi jog rovat, 2017, [9], https://ijoten.hu/szocikk/terseg-es-terulet-a-nemzetkozijogban, 26 May 2021.
Exchange of Notes Constituting an Agreement to Amend the Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark Relating to the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf Between Greenland and Canada. Done at Ottawa on 17 December 1973, View Treaty – Canada.ca (treaty-accord.gc.ca), 25 May 2021.
Jacques HARTMANN: Canada and Denmark reach agreement on the Lincoln Sea Boundary. https://www.ejiltalk.org/canada-and-denmark-reach-agreementon-the-lincoln-sea-boundary/, 12 October 2020.
Legal Status of the South-Eastern Territory of Greenland (Norway. v. Denmark). Judgement No. 55, 11 May 1933 P.C.I.J. (ser. A/B), https://www.icjcij.org/public/files/permanent-court-of-international-justice/serie_AB/AB_55/Sud-Est_Groenland_Ordonnance_19330511.pdf, 25 May 2021.
Legal Status of the South-Eastern Territory of Greenland (Norway. v. Denmark). Judgement No. 55, 11 May 1933 P.C.I.J. (ser. A/B), https://www.icjcij.org/public/files/permanent-court-of-international-justice/serie_AB/AB_55/Sud-Est_Groenland_Ordonnance_19330511.pdf, 25 May 2021.
Pete EVANS: Arctic thaw heats up Northwest Passage dreams. CBC News 13 September 2012 Who Owns the Arctic?: Arctic thaw heats up Northwest Passage dreams (typepad.com), 5 November 2020.
Purchase of the United States Virgin Islands, 1917, https://2001-2009. state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwi/107293.htm, 25 May 2021.
Timeline of Hans Island: https://web.archive.org/web/20130105210943/http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/hansIsland/time.asp, 10 December 2020.
Treaty on Cession of Danish West Indies (United States–Denmark). New York, August 4 1916, 39 Stat. 1706. https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/vitreaty.pdf, 10 December 2020.
Yoshifumi TANAKA: Reflections on Artic Maritime Delimitations: A Comparative Analysis between the Case Law and State Practice. Nordic Journal of International Law 80 (2011), 461.
