The recent decisions of the International Court of Justice and various arbitral tribunals with respect to the delimitation of maritime boundaries between states raise certain fundamental problems of jurisprudence. Among these are the legal consequences emanating from the proposition that each boundary is a unicum, that is to say, it is unique or monotypic; the part to be played by equity in the delimitation process; the role of equidistance; the legal consequences of the demise of natural prolongation and the emergence of the distance criterion or principle; the notion of a properly structured system of equity; and the proper function of the Court or tribunal in dealing with these matters.

The material in this section is arranged according to the system employed in the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law, published by the Department of State.

The International Law Commission of the United Nations held its forty-second session from May 1 to July 20, 1990, under the Chairmanship of Professor Shi Jiuyong. In the context of its work on the Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind, the Commission considered the establishment of an international criminal court and adopted three articles of the code. Also at the forty-second session, the Commission adopted six articles on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses and discussed reports on state responsibility, relations between states and international organizations, international liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law and jurisdictional immunities of states and their property.