LAW OF THE SEA 2 Flashcards
What are the main maritime zones in Law of the Sea?
- Internal Waters (all waters from the landward side of the established baseline)
- Territorial Sea (12 nm from the established baseline)
- Archipelagic Waters*
- Contiguous Zone (12nm from the territorial sea 12nm limit)
- Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ, from the territorial sea 12nm limit until the limit with the high seas)
- Continental Shelf (land platform under water within the continental margin)
- High Seas (200nm away from the established baseline, already considered as “international waters”)
- Deep Seabed (the “floor of the sea”, soil beyond the continental shelf)
How is the national jurisdiction of a coastal State generally affected towards maritime zones?
The further from the baseline, the lesser sovereign rights it possesses (from absolute sovereignty in internal waters to no exclusive rights in high seas)
How many types of baselines there are in order to measure maritime zones?
TWO, normal (adapting to the state’s coastline) and straight
What are internal waters and which are their key principles?
Internal waters are the ones on the landward side of the Coastal State’s established baseline. They are enclosed by normal and straight baselines, river mouths, harbors, ports, roadsteads, and bays. RIVERS AND LAKES ARE NOT INTERNAL WATERS.
Their key principles are:
- Sovereignty: internal waters are considered as part of the Coastal State’s territory, thus no right to disembark, overflight, fishing, resource extraction, conduct researches without the permission of the Coastal State (and hence submitting to its jurisdiction).
*There is no right of innocent passage for foreign vessels, unless those waters were historically used for international navigation.
What is “innocent passage”?
- It is a continuous and expeditious transit through internal or territorial waters, “en route” or from the high seas.
- It is considered innocent as long as it does not represent a threat to peace, order, or security of the Coastal State
- THIS DOESN’T APPLY TO OVERFLIGHT, LAUNCHING, LANDING, OR TAKING ON BOARD OF ANY AIRCRAFT
- It may be temporarily suspended (conflicts, events of force majeur such as natural disasters, accidents, etc.)
What are bays and how are they defined?
A bay is “an indentation in a shoreline, whose area is larger than of a semi-circle whose diameter is a line drawn across the mouth of said indentation”. Its definition follows two criteria:
- The area of the semi-circle has to be less than the area of water contained by the bay (if not, it cannot be closed by a baseline)
- The entrance (the diameter of the semi-circle) must be less or equal to 24 miles wide (if the bay mouth is wider than 24 miles, the state can still draw it to enclose the maximum area of water, even though it is not applicable to the entire bay).
What is the territorial sea and which are its key features?
Is an area whose length is of 12nm from the Coastal State’s established baseline. Their key aspects are:
- Principle of Sovereignty: over the seabed, the airspace and the water column;
- However, THERE IS RIGHT TO INNOCENT PASSAGE for other states’ vessels (but no right of innocent passage for foreign aircrafts).
What rights and duties do the Flag State and the Coastal State have in the territorial sea?
Flag State
- Rights: Innocent Passage
- Duties: Observe and respect the Coastal State’s law
Coastal State
- Rights: Prescribe laws
- Duties: Allow innocent passage and notify about hazards
What are archipelagic waters and which are their key aspects?
These are waters enclosed by archipelagic baselines, whose key characteristics are the following:
- Principle of Sovereignty: over archipelagic waters, airspace, seabed, subsoil and related contained resources
- Rights of Passage: innocent passage (may be temporarily suspended), archipelagic sea-lanes passage (considering the designation of specific sea-lanes within these waters)
- Preservation of existing agreements and other state’s rights (including “traditional fishing rights”, pre-existing cables and pipelines, etc.)
*The regime of archipelagic waters is ONLY ENJOYED BY ARCHIPELAGIC STATES (ex.: Indonesia, the Philippines, Fiji, etc.)
How does the Archipelagic Sea-Lanes regime work?
- Its respective right to passage must not interfere with the status of archipelagic waters
- Proposals for sea-lanes are referred to a “competent international organization” (the IMO)
- They are defined by a series of continuous axis lines that must include “all normal routes used as routes for international navigation or overflight”
- Ships/aircrafts circulating through them should not deviate more than 25nm from their axis, and may circulate “in the normal mode”
What is the contiguous zone and which are its key features?
It is an area of 12nm measured from the territorial sea 12nm limit. It was conceived to bolster a state’s law enforcement capacity and prevent criminals from fleeing the territorial sea. It overlays the first 12 nm of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Its main aspects are the following:
- Principle of Sovereignty: jurisdiction only upon the ocean’s surface and floor
- Right to overflight for foreign aircrafts
- Foreign vessels have full navigational, fishing and marine scientific research rights (unless they are infringing customs, fiscal, immigration and sanitation laws and assuming no EEZ declared for the latter rights)
- Extended territorial sea enforcement for the Coastal State (to prevent “infringement of customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea”)
- Right of Hot Pursuit. In order to prevent the geographical proximity of crimes, States enjoy the prerogative of iniciating athe chase of those criminal activities.
What is the EEZ?
The exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, subject to the specific legal regime under which the rights and jurisdiction of the coastal State and the rights and freedoms of other States are governed by the relevant provisions of this Convention.
What is the regular extension of the EZZ?
200 miles
By which legal framweork is the EEZ created?
It was created by UNCLOS III, which was based on customary law.
What is the jurisdiction of the State over the EEZ?
It has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, of the waters superjacent to the seabed and of the seabed and its subsoil, and with regard to
other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the production of energy from the water, currents and winds
