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As has been established, there is widespread agreement that customary international law consists of two elements: state practice and opinio juris.114 In relation to the crystallization of opinio juris and practice into binding customary law, one must also bear in mind the ICJ s decision regarding states whose interests have been specially affected as per the North Sea Continental Shelf case.115 In this case, the Court examined the delimitation of the continental shelf areas in the North Sea in relation to Germany and Denmark as well as between Germany and the Netherlands, looking beyond the partial boundaries which had been previously agreed upon by the parties. Specifically, the parties to the dispute requested the Court to issue principles and rules of international law to be applied to the delimitation of the continental shelf delimitation because they disagreed on the applicable principles or rules of delimitation.116 In its decision, the Court listed criteria necessary in 114 Practice and Customary Law in Military Operations, Including Peace Support Operations Congress of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War (2009), available online: http: ismllw.org congres General%20Report%20Congress.pdf. 115 North Sea Continental Shelf, Judgment of the ICJ (Germany v Denmark; Germany v Netherlands), ICJ Reports (1969) p 3 at para 74, available online: . 116 Specifically, the case examined What principles and rules of international law applied to the dispute regarding the delimitation of the continental shelf between the Federal Republic of Germany and Denmark on the one hand, and between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Netherlands on the other, and then how to delimit the area on that basis. Whether the delimitations at issue —