MARITIME ZONES
What is the main international convention on the law of the sea?
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
The coastal state has all the rights and duties inherent in sovereignty, whereas foreign vessels have privileges, associated particularly with the right of innocent passage.
What is the 'territorial sea'?
The continental shelf of a coastal State comprises the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of ________ nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance.
200 nautical miles
Name 3 freedoms on the high seas:
(a) freedom of navigation; (b) freedom of overflight; (c) freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines; (d) freedom to construct artificial islands and other installations permitted under international law; (e) freedom of fishing; (f) freedom of scientific research.
Means the transmission of sound radio or television broadcasts from a ship or installation on the high seas intended for reception by the general public contrary to international regulations, but excluding the transmission of distress calls.
What is 'unauthorized broadcasting'?
All parts of the sea that are not included in the exclusive economic zone, in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State, or in the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic State.
What are the 'high seas'?
The coastal State may exercise the control necessary to: prevent and punish infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea.
What is the 'contiguous zone'?
The exclusive economic zone shall not extend beyond _____ nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
200 nautical miles
Subject to certain exceptions, ships on the high seas are under the exclusive jurisdiction of which state?
The flag state whilst on the high seas.
Is there a right for all states to fish on the high seas?
Yes
Every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding _____ nautical miles, measured from ___________ determined in accordance with this Convention.
12 nautical miles / baselines
Waters on the landward side of the baseline of the territorial sea form part of the internal waters of the State.
What are 'internal waters'?
All States, whether coastal or land-locked, enjoy these freedoms in the exclusive economic zone:
Freedoms of navigation and overflight and of the laying of submarine cables and pipelines.
Any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed: (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft; (ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State.
What is 'piracy'?
Who should protect the living resources of the high seas?
All States have the duty to take, or to cooperate with other States in taking, such measures for their respective nationals as may be necessary for the conservation of the living resources of the high seas
Natural formation that has no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf and is not capable of supporting human habitation or economic life.
Rocks
The contiguous zone may not extend beyond _______ nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
24 nautical miles
The coastal State 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.
What is the 'exclusive economic zone'?
Which court may decide on the penalties to be imposed on the property seized or the persons arrested for acts of piracy on the high seas?
The courts of the State which carried out the seizure or arrest.
Can you explain the right of hot pursuit under the Law of the Sea?
The hot pursuit of a foreign ship may be undertaken when the competent authorities of the coastal State have good reason to believe that the ship has violated the laws and regulations of that State. Such pursuit must be commenced when the foreign ship or one of its boats is within the internal waters, the archipelagic waters, the territorial sea or the contiguous zone of the pursuing State, and may only be continued outside the territorial sea or the contiguous zone if the pursuit has not been interrupted.
A formation is legally an island if two conditions are satisfied:
(1) The formation must be ‘a naturally formed area of land’; (2) it must always be above sea level.
The coastal state exercises sovereign rights over it for the purpose of exploring and exploiting its natural resources.
What is the 'continental shelf'?
The coastal State has jurisdiction over: (i) the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations and structures; (ii) marine scientific research; (iii) the protection and preservation of the marine environment.
What is the 'exclusive economic zone'?
On the high seas or in any other place beyond the jurisdiction of any State, who may seize a pirate ship or aircraft and arrest the persons and seize the property on board?
Every State, but may be carried out only by warships or military aircraft, or other ships or aircraft clearly marked and identifiable as being on government service and authorized to that effect.
A warship which encounters on the high seas a foreign ship is not justified in boarding it unless there is reasonable ground for suspecting that: the ship is engaged in piracy; the ship is engaged in the slave trade; the ship is engaged in unauthorized broadcasting; the ship is without nationality; or though flying a foreign flag or refusing to show its flag, the ship is, in reality, of the same nationality as the warship.
What is 'the right of visit'?