THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE MEMBER STATES IN THE JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES OF THE UNCLOS

The European Union is increasing its participation in dispute settlement systems in the new framework of proliferation of international courts and tribunals. Specifically, the rules of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLO) on jurisdictional settlement of disputes provided in section 2 of Part XV contains express provisions dealing with the participation of EU which are of interest to the study of the issue. Furthermore, there has been decisive progress of the EU and the Member State’s practice before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). Recently, the advisory proceeding initiated by the Sub-regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), before ITLOS (case num. 21) highlighted the internal difficulties involved in the appropriate coordination of the EU and the Member State’s participation in proceedings before international tribunals. Additionally, the European Court of Justice has clarified a number of issues concerning the definition of EU position and its representation before international courts and tribunals. © 2016, Centro Estudios Politicos Constitucionales. All Rights Reserved.