On August 2, 2016, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued an advisory ruling (not yet available in print) that those caught fishing illegally in waters claimed by China could face up to one-year in prison. According to reports, in its ruling, the SPC stated, “judicial power is an important component of national sovereignty,” and “People’s courts will actively exercise jurisdiction over China’s territorial waters.” The opinion defined waters over which Chinese courts could exercise jurisdiction as including contiguous zones, exclusive economic zones (EEZ), and the Asian continental shelf. According to reports, the SPC ruling comes in response to a July 2016 ruling by a tribunal of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration which found, in a case brought by the Philippines, that China’s excessive maritime claims in the South China Sea violated the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). China refused to participate in the arbitration and has rejected its ruling.