Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 Nautical Miles from the Nicaraguan Coast; (Nicaragua v. Colombia)

178 Sea — United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 — Customary international law — Continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles — Exclusive economic zone — Maritime delimitation — Opposite States — Determining extent of maritime entitlements — Preliminary character with respect to delimitation — Whether continental shelf beyond 200 nm able to extend into exclusive economic zone of neighbouring State — UNCLOS — Relevance of travaux préparatoires — Whether UNCLOS negotiators assuming continental shelf only encroached on the area — Relationship between EEZ and continental shelf — Whether EEZ and continental shelf separate regimes under customary international law — Whether “grey area” indicating that EEZ able to overlap with continental shelf beyond 200 nm — Relevance of earlier case law — Article 82 of UNCLOS — Whether provision on revenue sharing showing that continental shelf regime different from EEZ regime — Existence of rule of customary international law prohibiting State from extending continental shelf beyond 200 nm within EEZ of other State — Whether State practice sufficiently widespread and uniform — Submissions to Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf — Opinio juris — Whether opinio juris deriving from State practice — Rule of customary international law existing prohibiting States from extending continental shelf beyond 200 nm within EEZ of other State — Whether necessary to address further questions — Rejection of Nicaragua’s first and second submissions — Islands and rocks — Entitlements — Judgment of 19 November 2012 already determining maritime entitlements of Serrana, Serranilla and Bajo Nuevo — Rejection of Nicaragua’s third submission International Court of Justice — Procedure — Hearings — Court dividing hearings — First phase confined to questions of law — Whether a necessary innovation — Whether depriving State of opportunity to present its case Sources of international law — Customary international law — Practice — Opinio juris — Nature of opinio juris — Whether State submissions to Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf indicating opinio juris — Treaties — United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 — Provisions declaratory of customary international law 179 Treaties — Interpretation — Recourse to travaux préparatoires — United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 — Continental shelf — Whether extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles can encroach on exclusive economic zone and shelf within 200 nm of another State — Matter not discussed at Conference