The Law of the Sea, p.179ff

1
The Law of the Sea, p.179ff

• follow along with 1982 UNCLOS (United Nations
  Convention on the Law of the Sea) (entered into
  force 1994). Note The Deep Sea Bed regime (arts.
  133-199) has been modified by the 1994 Agreement
  Relating to the Implementation of Part XI. Useful
  site www.itlos.org/ home of The International
  Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
• The US Senate has voted the treaty out of
  committee but has still not voted on its advice
  and consent to ratification although all
  departments of government have supported the
  treaty. Nonetheless, the US abides by much of the
  treaty.

2
Law of the Sea The Law Prior to the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

• Prior to UNCLOS, the sea was divided into
• 1) Internal waters Lakes, rivers, bays (no
  agreement on definition of a bay) internal
  waters were entirely subject to the states
  jurisdiction.

3
Law of the Sea The Law Prior to the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
continued

• 2) Territorial waters A strip of water lying
  directly off the coast of a state. In this water,
  the coastal state could declare an exclusive
  fishing (or other economic interests) zone. (No
  agreement on the breadth of the territorial sea.
  Western states argued for 3 nautical miles. All
  miles are nautical miles in the law of the sea. A
  nautical mile is 6076.1155 feet as opposed to
  5280 feet in a regular mile. Scandinavian states
  claimed four nautical miles and some Latin
  American states claimed 200 nautical miles). Most
  states agreed that foreign ships had a right of
  innocent passage through the territorial sea.
  Some states argued that military vessels had to
  receive permission to enter the territorial sea
  and had no right of innocent passage.

4
Law of the Sea The Law Prior to the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
continued

• 3) The high seas All the sea beyond the
  territorial sea. Ships on the high seas were
  generally only subject to the jurisdiction of the
  flag state but see, The Lotus Case (France v.
  Turkey), 1927 P.C.I.J. (ser. A) No.10, cf. UNCLOS
  art. 97. The high seas were open to all states,
  Mare Liberum, and could not be claimed by them
  in the way that territory could be.

5
Regimes of the Sea after UNCLOS

• 1) Internal waters, including bays that meet the
  UNCLOS
• definition.
• 2) Territorial Sea.
• 3) The Contiguous Zone.
• 4) The Exclusive Economic Zone.
• 5) The Continental Shelf.
• 6) The High Seas.
• 7) The Deep Sea Bed (under UNCLOS as altered by
  the
• 1994 Agreement).

6
Internal Waters

• Name some bodies of water that are classified as
  internal waters. (UNCLOS art. 8).
• What power does the State surrounding the
  internal waters have over those waters? (UNCLOS
  art. 2).
• Some bays are also classified as internal waters.
  Which ones? (UNCLOS art. 10). Where is the
  baseline for measuring a bay? (UNCLOS art. 10).
• What is an historic bay? (UNCLOS art. 10(6)).

7
The Territorial Sea

• What is the territorial sea? (UNCLOS art. 2).
• How broad is the territorial sea? (UNCLOS art.
  3).
• From which point is the base line for the
  territorial sea measured? (UNCLOS art. 5, 6,
  7,9).
• What rights does the coastal state have over the
  airspace over the territorial sea? (UNCLOS art.
  2(2)).

8
Rights for Foreign Ships in the Territorial Sea

• What rights do foreign ships have in the
  territorial sea of another state? (UNCLOS arts.
  17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24-32).
• Do aircraft also have these rights over the
  territorial sea?
• What is innocent passage? (UNCLOS art. 19)
• What can the coastal state do if it believes that
  a foreign state is not engaged in innocent
  passage through its territorial sea?(UNCLOS arts.
  25(1), 30, 31).

9
U.S. v. Conroy/U.S. v. Walker U.S. Ct of Appeals
1979

• What happened in this case?
• On what basis did the defendants claim that the
  seizure in Haitian territorial waters was
  illegal?
• Do you agree with the courts interpretation of
  14 USC section 89 (bottom of pps. 188-189) and
  the courts view of the scope of the US Coast
  Guards powers?
• On what basis did the court rule that the Coast
  Guard had the right to enter Haitian territorial
  waters even without specific permission?
• Does the right of innocent passage include the
  right to arrest vessels in the territorial sea of
  other states? If such an arrest is a violation of
  the coastal states rights, which entity (or
  entities) may complain about the violation?

10
Archipelagos

• How are the baselines drawn around mid-ocean
  archipelagos?
• Do foreign ships have a right of passage through
  the archipelagic waters inside the baselines? Is
  this the same as the right of innocent passage
  through territorial seas?
• Do aircraft have a right to fly over archipelagic
  waters without first securing permission?

11
International Straits

• Why did the UNCLOS expansion of the breadth of
  the territorial sea to a maximum of 12 nautical
  miles create a problem for passage of ships and
  aircraft through straits?

12
Corfu Channel Case (U.K. v. Albania) 1949
I.C.J. 4

• Customary Definition of an International Strait
  Map of Corfu (Kerkyra) http//apartments-alexandr
  os.travel-greece.org/images/corfu_map.png
• Britain claimed that Albania had fired at
  two of her military cruisers while they were
  passing near the Albanian coast in May 1946. The
  Albanians claimed that the area was territorial
  sea and that foreign military ships had no right
  to pass without prior permission. The UK argued
  that the water was an international strait and,
  if so, all ships, whether military or mercantile,
  had the right of innocent passage.
• How did Albania argue that the Corfu Channel
  should not be classified as an international
  strait? How did the Court define an international
  strait? What rights do foreign ships have in
  international straits? What do you think the
  Court meant by innocent passage.?

13
UNCLOS Definition of a Strait

• Study the following articles of UNCLOS arts.
  36-44 (transit passage and definition of certain
  types of straits) 19 (innocent passage)
  45(1)b() and 45(2) (innocent passage through
  certain straits) 38 (island straits).
• How is the right of transit passage different
  from the right of innocent passage?

14
Question p. 195

• Map of the Straits of Tiran www.worldatlas.com/aa
  tlas/infopage/gulfofaqaba.htm
• Study the map of the Straits of Tiran p. 196.
  The Straits of Tiran run from the Red Sea into
  the Gulf of Aqaba. The maximum width of the Gulf
  is 17 nautical miles. The only navigable channel
  through the Straits is 3 miles wide. Assume that
  all States bordering the Gulf claim the maximum
  territorial sea possible under UNCLOS.
• 1)What right does a foreign ship have to pass
  through the Straits of Tiran?
• 2) What right does foreign aircraft have to fly
  over the Straits of Tiran?
• 3) What right does the coastal state have to
  suspend rights of passage through the Straits and
  when?

15
The Contiguous Zone

• This zone started out as a type of a security
  zone but there was no agreement on its breadth or
  the limitations on the power of the coastal state
  in the zone. Now read art. 33. Just what powers
  does the coastal state have in the contiguous
  zone?

16
The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

• Read UNCLOS art. 55.
• What rights does the coastal state have in the
  EEZ? See arts. 56, 61, 62, 69, 70 73 74.
• What rights do foreign states have in the EEZ?
  See arts. 58

17
The Continental Shelf (CS)

• Read art. 76, 82, 7, 77, 81.
• What are the rights of coastal states in the CS?
• What are the rights of foreign states in waters
  above the CS? See art. 78, 79.
• For delimitation of the CS when claimed by more
  than one state see art. 83, 287, 284, 76 and
  Annex II.