南海仲裁案──太平島之島／礁爭議探析

South China Sea Arbitration: An Analysis on the Island/Rock Status of Taiping Island

菲律賓提出的南海仲裁案於二零一六年七月十二日發布裁決，其中對於島礁法律地位認定之裁決內容，特別受到廣泛的注目，原因即在於過去國際法院涉及島礁在劃界地位的案件判決中，法院多採迴避對《聯合國海洋法公約》第一二一條第三項的內容作出解釋，以避免後續產生在認定上可能出現的更多紛爭。但是在本南海仲裁案的裁決中，仲裁庭直接地對島嶼地位的確認加以解釋並附加其所認定的若干要件。本文即在觀察和分析此一發展。

The Award for the South China Sea arbitration, initiated by the Philippines, was issued on 12 July 2016 by the Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII to the UNCLOS. The issue on the status of features has attracted worldwide attention. In the International Court of Justice precedents on maritime delimitation, the court has been trying not to interpret the wording in Article 121(3) of the UNCLOS, which is “sustain human habitation or economic life of their own”. However, in the South China Sea arbitration, the Tribunal not only interpret the aforementioned article, but also add more elements to it. This paper is going to review and analyze such development.