With regard to tripoint issues, the first step for parties to bilateral maritime boundary delimitation is to determine whether any third-state interest exists. As noted above, approximately one-third of the boundary agreements reported in these volumes do not involve any third-state interest. The lack of third-state interests simplifies matters immensely. For the other two-third, the presence of a third state is a complicating factor that must be addressed.
Identifying the existence of tripoint issues, if any, is discussed in Section A. Once third-state interests have been identified, the parties must decide how to address those interests in the definition of their boundary. The five techniques used by delimiting states to deal with third-state interests are discussed in Section B. Finally, international courts and tribunals tasked with delimitation between two parties often find themselves faced with non-party, third-state interests. How courts and tribunals have dealt with tripoint issues in the seven cases in which they have arisen is discussed in Section C.