On 9 January and 24 January 2017, Timor-Leste and Australia – together with the Conciliation Commission constituted pursuant to Annex V of UNCLOS to oversee the conciliation between the two States – issued two Joint Statements concerning Timor-Leste’s intention to terminate the 2006 Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS) and its withdrawal of two arbitration claims against Australia under the separate Timor Sea Treaty of 2002.
The first arbitration, filed on 23 April 2013, concerned allegations of spying by Australia against Timor-Leste during negotiations over CMATS. Timor-Leste contended that such espionage invalidated CMATS, which, inter alia, divides revenues from the production of oil and gas deposits in a major offshore field equally between the States and imposes a 50-year moratorium on maritime boundary negotiations or claims. The second arbitration, filed on 15 September 2015, challenged Australia’s taxation rights over a subsea pipeline.
On 11 April 2016, Timor-Leste separately requested UNCLOS compulsory conciliation in relation to its maritime boundary with Australia. As previously reported, on 19 September 2016 the Conciliation Commission held that it was competent to continue with the conciliation process and that there were no issues of admissibility or comity that precluded the Commission from doing so.
The Joint Statement of 9 January 2017 notes that, following a series of meetings in October 2016, Timor-Leste and Australia agreed to “an integrated package of measures intended to facilitate the conciliation process and create the conditions conducive to the achievement of an agreement on permanent maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea”.
As part of the confidence-building measures, Timor-Leste notified Australia of the termination of CMATS, which shall cease to be in force on 10 April 2017. Timor-Leste has also written to the tribunals hearing its two arbitrations to withdraw its claims.
Timor-Leste and Australia have confirmed their commitment to negotiating permanent maritime boundaries by the end of the conciliation process in September 2017.
For the Joint Statement on the termination of CMATS, click here.
For the Joint Statement on the decision by Timor-Leste to withdraw its arbitration claims, click here.