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.
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 state’s jurisdiction.
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.
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.
Regimes of the Sea after UNCLOS
 1) Internal waters, including bays that meet the UNCLOS
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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).
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)).
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)).
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).
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 court`s interpretation of 14 USC
section 89 (bottom of pps. 188-189) and the court`s view of
the scope of the US Coast Guard`s 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 state’s rights, which
entity (or entities) may complain about the violation?
Archipelagos
 How are the baselines drawn around midocean 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?
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?
Corfu Channel Case
(U.K. v. Albania) 1949 I.C.J. 4
 Customary Definition of an International Strait: Map of
Corfu (Kerkyra): http://apartments-alexandros.travelgreece.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.”?
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?
Question p. 195
 Map of the Straits of Tiran:
www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/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?
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?
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
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.