A Identifying Tripoint Issues
The parties to a bilateral delimitation must first determine whether a tripoint issue exists, with which third state, and what the nature of the issue is. Where one or both parties have delimited their boundary with the third state, the third-state interests may already be clear. This gives the parties to the present delimitation something to meet up with, to avoid, or there are overlapping claims, to purposely overstep. In the absence of any preexisting delimitations, the parties should rely in the first instance on the coastal geography to determine whether and with whom they have a trilateral geographic relationship.