UDK: 341.61

Shehab Hossam Hamid - Prof. Dr., Ministry of Higher Education, University of Tikrit, College of Law (Iraq)

Al Ali Naser Abdel Raheem - Candidate of Law, associate professor, Russian University of Transport (MIIT)

Vladimir Ev. Chebotarev - Candidate of Economic Sciences, associate professor, Russian University of Transport (MIIT)

Abstract. The process of defining maritime areas has always had a prominent place in disputes resulting from conflicts of interest in these important regions of the world and the importance of defining maritime boundaries stands out in narrow sea areas where countries with diverse interests meet. In order to ensure stability and peace in those maritime areas, it is necessary to search for the best ways and means to determine those boundaries to achieve justice in the determination. The current paper has analyzed the 1982 Convention, which created some principles and methods in determining maritime boundaries, and among those principles was the principle of special circumstances. The principle of the midline can be adopted in normal cases through which fair results can be achieved, but this principle may not be valid in other cases and if this principle was applied in those cases, it would show us unacceptable results. The maritime extensions of coastal states are connected with the supreme vital interests of the state in terms of economic, security and military aspects, which makes disputes resulting from the determination of maritime borders between opposite or neighboring countries not only characterized by their abundance and diversity, but also by their intertwining and complexity due to their relevance to economic, geographical and political issues in the area where maritime boundaries are determined, as well as the legal points raised by the delimitation process.

Keywords: maritime spaces; delimitation; maritime boundaries; UN Convention on the Law of the Sea; demarcation; historical legal grounds or other special circumstances.

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