Law of the Sea

Question 1

Does any state have jurisdiction over the high seas?

Answer 1

NO, but states do recognise that certain acts such as piracy and human trafficking must be suppressed and thus every state has jurisdiction over these matters

Question 2

What is a flag state?

Answer 2

A flag state is the state that a ship is registered to

There must be a genuine link between the state and ship and the state must effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control in matters over ships flying its flag

Question 3

Who wrote the original Four conventions of the Law of the Sea?

Answer 3

the International Law Commission

Question 4

When was UNCLOS proposed?

Answer 4

1982

Question 5

When did UNCLOS come into force?

Answer 5

1994

Question 6

Where does the territorial sea start and end? What does the territorial zone contain that you wouldn’t expect?

Answer 6

Foreshores and 12 nautical miles from there

The limits of a states airspace!

Question 7

How far is the contiguous zone?

Answer 7

An additional 12 nautical miles from the end of the territorial sea

Question 8

Where is a states exclusive economic zone?

Answer 8

200 nautical miles from the foreshore (including territorial sea and contiguous zone

Question 9

What does the EEZ reflect?

Answer 9

The area over which coastal nations have jurisdiction over their natural resources

Question 10

Where does the high seas begin?

Answer 10

200 nautical miles from the foreshore (at the end of the EEZ)

Question 11

How has the law of the sea developed?

Answer 11

GRADUALLY

Through 1600s there was development of customary understanding of LoS

There were no concrete laws and mariners just began following British admiralty rules

the UN wanted some codification of rules and the International Law Commission assisted and four Geneva Conventions on the Law of the Sea were adopted in 1958

Further codification was done by the UN in 1982 which became UNCLOS

Question 12

What is innocent passage?

Answer 12

Passage that is “not prejudicial to the peace, good order, or security of the coastal State” and the coastal state is under duty not to hamper innocent passage

1. Navigation through territorial sea for the purpose of traversing the sea without entering internal waters or proceeding to or from internal waters
2. Passage shall be continuous and expeditious and stops shall only be in so far as are incidental to ordinary navigation

Question 13

Do all coastal states have a territorial sea?

Answer 13

YES (if they’re a member of UNCLOS) then they are obligated to have a territorial sea

Question 14

Do all coastal states have a contiguous zone?

Answer 14

NO this must be decisively claimed

Question 15

What are the freedoms of the high seas?

Answer 15

Freedom of navigation, freedom of fishing, freedom of submarine cables and pipelines and freedom of overflight

Question 16

What rights does the coastal state have in the EEZ?

Answer 16

It dosen’t enjoy complete soverignty, only sovereign rights ‘for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, of the seabed and subsoil and the superjacent waters…”

Question 17

where does the seabed and subsoil begin?

Answer 17

The submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory or to a distance 200 nautical miles from the baselines of the territorial sea

Question 18

What are the issues with the deep seabed? How has this attempted to be resolved?

Answer 18

Rich in mineral resources; rich states such as the US regard their extraction as within a freedom of the high seas while developing states regard them as “common heritage of mankind”

This discrepancy has been attempted to be resolved through the International Seabed Authority which resolves disputes around deep-seabed disputes