Abstract

This chapter examines selected coastal States’ baseline legislation over time to assess whether international law implies a duty to update established baselines. It presents a baseline change study based on a representative group of low-elevation coastal States, analysing whether legislative action has been taken to revise baselines, and, if so, in what circumstances. The chapter finds that State practice is mixed and argues that, given the silence of the LOSC, there is insufficient support for an implied duty to update baselines. In the absence of such a duty, the chapter concludes that the existing law accommodates a temporal dimension of legal stability, allowing baselines to be maintained over time.