The arbitral award or judgment, dated July 12, 2016, was issued unanimously by the five members of the Arbitral Tribunal Constituted Under Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (that is how the tribunal called itself). Alleging the tribunal’s lack of jurisdiction, China refused to participate in the proceedings and does not recognize the award. To help readers understand the lengthy 501-page award, I will try to summarize it into three parts. First, it rejected China’s “nine-dash line” and its claim of “indisputable sovereignty” over almost the entire South China Sea (SCS) for contravening the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). Consequently, the SCS is open to freedom of navigation by all countries.

Panganiban, A. V. (2019, August 4). Understanding the arbitral award. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A9.