SEA LIMITSVerdict on Dhaka-Yangon dispute early 2012

Dhaka, June 17 (bdnews24.com) ? Verdict on maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and Myanmar is likely to be delivered in the first quarter of the next year.

President Jos? Lu?s Jesus of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) said this addressing the 21st meeting of the 162 states parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea at the UN headquarters in New York last week, according to an ITLOS press statement.

Bangladesh accepted the jurisdiction of the ITLOS for the settlement of the maritime boundary dispute in the Bay of Bengal in December 2009, while Myanmar had accepted a month earlier, in November 2009.

"The final written pleading should be filed by July 1, while oral proceedings are scheduled for September," Luis said.

The president also mentioned that he had appointed three arbitrators, including himself, in the arbitral tribunal set up to settle the dispute between Bangladesh and India over the maritime boundary delimitation in the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh submitted its memorial to ITLOS in July last year, while Myanmar submitted its counter-memorial in December.

Dhaka also filed its reply in March, though Myanmar will file its rejoinder in July this year.

Meanwhile, foreign minister Dipu Moni lodged Bangladesh's submission on the extended continental shelf with the United Nations in New York in February.

Bangladesh's claim ranges from 400-460 nautical miles (NM) in the sea-bed of the Bay.

The submission completes the outstanding obligation of Bangladesh under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to provide scientific and technical information to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in support of Bangladesh's rights to the continental shelf beyond 200 NM.

Bangladesh has held extensive consultations with Federal Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) of Germany, GRID?Arendal of Norway, Centre for Coastal and Ocean Mapping of the University of New Hampshire, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, USA for preparation of Bangladesh's submission.

Economic and legal section of the Commonwealth Secretariat has provided legal and technical assistance in the final documentation of Bangladesh's submission.

Bangladesh has also received advisory assistance from Dr. Herald Brekke, a member of the Commission on the Limits of the Continentals Shelf.

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