The Barbados/Trinidad and Tobago Arbitration Award of 2006

The Barbados/Trinidad and Tobago Arbitration Award (2006) is the first ever rendered in a maritime delimitation submitted to arbitration pursuant to Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of Sea.

The Arbitral Tribunal was called upon to decide the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the Caribbean Sea region that separates the two island nations. The Final Award establishes a single maritime boundary between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago and also requires the two States to take steps to conserve fish stocks and ensure certain fishing rights of Barbadian fishermen who had traditionally fished in Trinidad and Tobago waters.

Bernard Oxman, the Richard A. Hausler Professor of International Law at the University of Miami, provides an insightful introduction on the contribution of the Award to the law of maritime delimitation.