Mandatory Counseling

What if instead of issuing binding judgements, compulsory mechanisms of international law could compel two parties of a maritime dispute to sit down at the negotiating table to work through their differences? And suppose instead of issuing awards with outcomes favorable to one party over another, a committee of judges could mediate and attempt to find common ground between two parties of a dispute? Such is the result of a landmark agreement between Timor-Leste and Australia which saw the two countries reach consensus on the central elements of a maritime boundary delimitation in the Timor Sea. What made the agreement so notable was that Australia was, in essence, forced to negotiate with Timor-Leste under unilateral proceedings it brought before Australia under a little-known clause within Annex V of the United Nations Convention Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).