Chapter 15
The Legal Status of the São Pedro and São
Paulo Archipelago in Light of Article
121 of UNCLOS and the South China Sea
Arbitral Award: Uncontested Right to EEZ
and Continental Shelf or Brazilian
“Creeping Jurisdiction”?
Victor Alencar Mayer Feitosa Ventura and Eduardo Cavalcanti Mello Filho
Abstract Brazil has historically advanced what has been labelled a “territorialist”
agenda for the uses of the sea, having defended extended rights and powers for the
coastal State over waters adjacent to the shore. A well-known Brazilian stance has
been to adjust the São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago (ASPSP) to the definition of
“island” pursuant to Article 121 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS), so that it generates an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and a continental shelf of its own. Certain of such a right, Brazil has established a massive
marine protected zone within the entirety of the Archipelago’s EEZ. Nonetheless,
the recent arbitration award granted in the dispute between the Philippines and China
over the South China Sea has endorsed new understandings on the regime of islands,
which could eventually counter Brazilian interests regarding the Archipelago. Thus,
the present contribution problematizes the position of Brazil amidst possible controversies prompted by the aforementioned arbitration award, whilst aiming to
ascertain the consequences of recent jurisprudential findings concerning the concept
of “island”, and glimpses into the future of Brazil’s position regarding the rights
generated by the Archipelago.
A beta version of this chapter in Portuguese was presented at the III Brazilian Conference on the
Law of the Sea, Rio de Janeiro, 24–25 May 2018.
V. Alencar Mayer Feitosa Ventura (*)
Superintendence for Environmental Management - SUDEMA, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil
E. Cavalcanti Mello Filho
Federal University of Paraíba (Universidade Federal da Paraíba), João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. C. Ribeiro et al. (eds.), Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42671-2_15
263
The Legal Status of the São Pedro and São
Paulo Archipelago in Light of Article
121 of UNCLOS and the South China Sea
Arbitral Award: Uncontested Right to EEZ
and Continental Shelf or Brazilian
“Creeping Jurisdiction”?
Victor Alencar Mayer Feitosa Ventura and Eduardo Cavalcanti Mello Filho
Abstract Brazil has historically advanced what has been labelled a “territorialist”
agenda for the uses of the sea, having defended extended rights and powers for the
coastal State over waters adjacent to the shore. A well-known Brazilian stance has
been to adjust the São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago (ASPSP) to the definition of
“island” pursuant to Article 121 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS), so that it generates an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and a continental shelf of its own. Certain of such a right, Brazil has established a massive
marine protected zone within the entirety of the Archipelago’s EEZ. Nonetheless,
the recent arbitration award granted in the dispute between the Philippines and China
over the South China Sea has endorsed new understandings on the regime of islands,
which could eventually counter Brazilian interests regarding the Archipelago. Thus,
the present contribution problematizes the position of Brazil amidst possible controversies prompted by the aforementioned arbitration award, whilst aiming to
ascertain the consequences of recent jurisprudential findings concerning the concept
of “island”, and glimpses into the future of Brazil’s position regarding the rights
generated by the Archipelago.
A beta version of this chapter in Portuguese was presented at the III Brazilian Conference on the
Law of the Sea, Rio de Janeiro, 24–25 May 2018.
V. Alencar Mayer Feitosa Ventura (*)
Superintendence for Environmental Management - SUDEMA, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil
E. Cavalcanti Mello Filho
Federal University of Paraíba (Universidade Federal da Paraíba), João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. C. Ribeiro et al. (eds.), Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42671-2_15
263