Distinguished Status Quo: The American Antarctic Quadrant after Submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf

摘要

Submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) by countries claiming sovereignty in Antarctica confirm the resilience of the Antarctic status quo to legal challenges. Through this status quo, these submissions have not been hindered by differences among claimant countries and between them and countries not recognizing any claim in Antarctica. It is in the American Antarctic Quadrant-where Argentina, Chile and United Kingdom have overlapping claims-that the status quo achieves its most extensive geographic and normative range, covering an area and disputes south and north of latitude 60 degrees, in particular disputes between Argentina and the United Kingdom; this determines also the alternatives available to Chile for filing its submission to the CLCS by 2019.