Putting King's on the map

In March, LLB students in Public International Law had the opportunity to draw maritime boundaries in a workshop run by the UK Hydrographic Office.

Fiona Bloor and Helena Patton from the UK Hydrographic Office, delivered a Technical Workshop on the Law of the Sea tailored to LLB students in The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London.

Using large scale maps, compasses, pencils and rulers, students learned to draw territorial seas using baselines, to construct median lines and to make arguments for ‘special circumstances’ to generate equitable maritime boundaries. The students enjoyed the challenge of translating notions like "equitable" and "proportionate" into lines on a map.

The UK Hydrographic Office usually conducts this workshop for diplomats, surveyors or geographers. It gave the LLB students a practical grounding in the law of the sea. Students have also benefited from the insights of Professor David Caron, who is a judge ad-hoc at the International Court of Justice in a boundary dispute, and Dr Philippa Webb and lecturer Penelope Nevill, who have been counsel in maritime disputes.