3. State Territory and State Sovereignty.pptx

 The concept of the State is rooted in the concept
of control of Territory.
 The purpose and role of every state is
 to control activities within its borders so far as
possible,
 to ensure that the activities within its borders are not
regulated by any other state.
2

 This idea is expressed in Int law
through the concept of sovereignty.
“Sovereignty in the relations between
States signifies independence in regards
to a portion of the globe is the right to
exercise therein ,to the exclusion of any
other State, the functions of a State.
3

 This is defined as portion of the surface of the
globe which is subjected to the Sovereignty of a
State.
 International Law recognizes the supreme
authority of every State within its territory.
 This is known as Territorial Sovereignty
4

 Territory is a basic requirement of statehood and,
within its territory, a State enjoys and exercises
sovereignty.
 Territorial sovereignty extends over the
designated land mass, sub-soil, inland waters,
territorial sea and the airspace above the land,
internal waters and territorial sea.
5

 Three main parts
 Land Territory: (all land areas within the boundaries
of State including Rivers, lakes, canals, ports etc)
 Maritime Territory: ( Sea territory of the coastal
state)
 Air Space: ( Air space above land and sea territory)
6

 A state without a territory is not possible,
although the necessary territory may be very
small,
 as with the Principality of Monaco.
 Monaco is a small independent country in Western
Europe and the second smallest independent state in the
world, after Vatican City. It is located on the
Mediterranean Sea along the southern coast of France, 18
kilometers east of the French city of Nice, near Italy’s
border.
7

Modes of Acquiring Sovereignty over Territory
 Five Traditional Modes
 Occupation
 Prescription
 Cession
 Conquest
 Accretion
8

 Others include
 Lease
 Adjudication
 Pledge
 Plebiscite
 Newly Emerged State
 Discovery
9

Modes of Loosing Sovereignty over Territory
 Cession
 Natural Calamity
 Subjugation
 Prescription
 Revolt
 Granting of Independence to colony
10

 Occupation: is the intentional acquisition by a
State of Sovereignty over a territory which is at
the time not under the sovereignty of another
State
 An act of appropriation by a state over a
territory which does not belong to any other
state.
11

There are two essential elements
a. The Territory in question must be terra nullius. ( A
territory belonging to no one at the time of the act
alleged to constitute occupation)
b. Occupation must be effective
(i) Direct evidence of possession. (There must be an
intention to occupy (animus occupandi)
(ii) An exhibition of actual authority. (actual exercise of
State functions over the territory ( Corpus
Occupandi)
12

 This can be defined as the peaceful and
continuous exercise of the State authority for a
long period of territory subject to the
sovereignty of another.
 If a state exercises control over a territory
continuously for a long time without any
interruption and possess it defacto, the
concerned territory becomes part of that state.
13

 Peaceful and uninterrupted display of
authority. ( There must not be protest or
objection by the former sovereign.)
 Continuous display of authority.
 Possession should be for a definite period not
less than 20 years.
 Possession must be exercised in the form of
actual exercise of sovereign authority.
14

 Display of State authority by the acquiring state
is to be accompanied by compliance on the part
of the loosing State
 Possession must be public and open.
 Possession must be for a certain length of time.
 International law does not fix any certain time so as to a
title by prescription, however length of time required for
prescription is a matter which should be decided by
international court of justice or tribunal where the case is
brought for adjudication..
15

 It is the acquisition of the territory of an enemy
through the military force in time of war.
 After Conquest usual practice was that the
conqueror finally annexed the enemy territory.
16

 This mode is outdated now. The UN charter,
international Law restricts the rights of States to
go to war.
 By virtue of Art 2(4) of the charter, the use of
force against the territorial integrity and
political independence of a State is now illegal.
 The 1970 GA Declaration on principles of
international Law (GA resolution 2625) states
“The territory of a State shall not be the object of
acquisition by another State resulting from threat or
use of force. No territorial acquisition resulting from
threat or use of force shall be recognized as legal.”
17

 Cession is the transfer of sovereign over a
definite territory by one state to another state.
(usually by treaty).
 The situation is rather like the transfer of
property in municipal law. Therefore there
may be sometimes exchange of territory.
18

 Forms of Cession:
 Voluntary.
 Under compulsion.
 There are number of sales of territory.
 France sold Louisiana to the US for 60 million francs
in 1803.
 In 1867, Russia sold her Alaskan territory in
America.
 In 1899, Spain sold the Caroline islands to Germany.
19

 Accretion :When a new territory is added,
mainly through natural causes to existing
territory, that is already under sovereign of
acquiring state. In accretion this process is a
gradual and slow process e . g gradual
movement of a river bed.
 Forms of Accretion:
 Artificial.
 Natural.
20

 Avulsion: When a new territory is
added, mainly through natural
causes to existing territory, that is
already under sovereign of
acquiring state. In avulsion the
process is sudden and fast e.g by the
creation of an island in territorial
waters by volcanic action.
21

 No definite rules.
 A new territory may be acquired
after the right of self determination.
 E.g West Irian (Java) both
Netherlands and Indonesia
claimed territory. Through
plebiscite assigned to Indonesia.
22

 Former colony when liberates acquire
territorial sovereignty over the territory.
23

 The oldest method of acquiring title to territory.
 However, discovery alone would not suffice to
establish legal title.
 It is necessary that the discovered area must be
physically occupied.
 Related to title by discovery is the hinterland doctrine or
the principle of continuity. If a state has made a
settlement, it has a right to assume sovereignty over all
adjacent vacant territory, which is necessary to the
integrity and security of the settlement.
24

Cession:
 the acquisition of territory by one state is loss
to the other.
 the act of cession may be in the nature of gift,
sale, exchange or lease.
25

 Operation of nature/ Natural Calamity:
A state may lose territory by operation of
nature for e. g. by earthquake, a coast of the sea
a Island may altogether disappear.
 Subjugation:
As a state may acquire territory through
annexation the other state may lose it through
subjugation.
26

 Revolt:
When a new state takes birth in consequences
of revolution or revolt it would be lost of
territory by revolt.
 Renunciation:
Renunciation is a mode of losing territory by
official rejection. It is the very opposite of the
prescription which requires both possession
and intention.
27

 Independence to a Colony:
Granting of independence to a colony is also a
mode of losing imperialist state grants
independence to the areas under its control.
 Kinds of cession:
 Valid: Any act which indicates an intention to transfer
sovereignty is sufficient.
 Voluntary: The act of cession may be voluntary or
under compulsion as a result of war.
28

 consensus: This arises from the
absence of protest. The term
compliance is applied to the attitude
of the losing state in a dispute.
29

Internal waters are legally equivalent to a state’s land,
and are entirely subject to its territorial sovereignty.
 lakes,
 canals,
 rivers and their mouths,
 ports,
 harbors,
 sometimes waters landward of fringing islands, and
 some of its gulfs and bays.
30

 Rivers:
Rivers are part of the territory of the riparian state.
(1) Internal River/ National Rivers.
If a river lies wholly, that is, from its source to its
mouth, within the boundaries of one and the
same state, such state owns it exclusively, the
waters of the river and of its mouth being
national or internal waters. Such rivers may be
called national rivers.
31

(2) Boundary River
 Boundary rivers which separate different states from
each other.
 Boundary rivers belong to the territory of the
states they separate,
 The boundary line usually running either
 through the middle of the river
32

(3) Multinational River, Pluri-national
River
 rivers which run successively
through two or more states
 such rivers belong successively to
the territories of the states drained
by them.
33

As the airplane developed during the first decade of 20th century, the question arose as to
the sovereignty of each nation in the airspace above it.
“Should airspace above a nation be considered within the sovereignty of each nation or should
airspace, like the high seas, be considered international?”
Two principle theories of national sovereignty of airspace were
advocated by international jurists:
1. The air is free and therefore individual states have no
authority over it, either in time of peace or in time of
war, except when necessary for self-preservation.
2. The opposing view held that the individual states
indeed have a right of sovereignty over the airspace
above their soil. They claimed that aircraft flying only a
few miles over the land are in a position to observe,
photography and obtain data that might be used to the
disadvantage of the nation over which the aircraft are
flown.
35

THE PARIS CONVENTION-1919
 On October 13, 1919, the convention, with its annexes, was agreed upon,
adopted and opened the signature by the representatives of 32 allied and
associated powers represented at the peace conference.
 The 34 articles covered the reservation of sovereignty of airspace by the
contracting nations;
 each nation’s registry of aircraft
 the issuance of certificates of airworthiness and competence by each
contracting nation
 the flight of aircraft across foreign territory
 international aircraft navigation rules
 prohibition of the transportation of arms, explosives and photographic
equipment by aircraft
 the establisment and maintenance of a permanent commission for air
navigation.
37

THE WARSAW CONVENTION-1929
 It is the convention for the unification of certain rules relating to international
transportation by air
 applies to any intarnational transportation of persons, baggage or merchandise by
aircraft compensations.
 The Warsaw Convention provided that an air carrier was liable for damages
sustained by:
 Death or injury to the passengers
 Destruction, loss or damage to baggage or goods
 Loss resulting from delay in the transportation of passengers, baggage or
merchandise.
THE CHICAGO CONFERENCE-1944
 World War II had a tremendous impact on the technical development of air
transportation, but there were many problems on political, legal, economical and
technical subjects.
 Therefore, representatives of 52 nations assembled in Chicago in November, 1944.
 The aim of the conference was to foster development of international civil aviation
“in a safe and orderly manner” to establish international air transport service on the
basis of equality of service.
 The Chicago Conference established the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) to foster the planning and development of international air transport.
38

The contracting states were required to undertake to secure the highest degree of
uniformity in complying with international standards and practices with respect to
the followings:
 Communication systems and air navigation aids
 Characteristics of airports and landing areas
 Rules of air and air traffic control practices
 Licensing of operating and mechanical personnel
 Airworthiness of aircraft.
 Registration and identification of aircraft
 Collection and exchange of meteorological information
 Logbooks
 Aeronautical maps and charts
 Customs and immigration procedures
 Aircraft in distress and investigation of accidents and other matters concerning
the safety, regularity and efficiency of air navigation.
39

TOKYO CONFERENCE-1963.
 The State of Registration of an aircraft is competent to exercise jurisdiction over
offences and acts committed on board.
 Offences wherever committed should not go unpunished.
 As certain acts committed on board or may prejudice good order and discipline
on board, the aircraft commander and others are empowered to prevent such
acts being committed and to disembark the person concerned.
 In the case of an anticipated or actual unlawful or forcible seizure of an aircraft
in flight by a person on board, the States party to the Convention are obliged to
take all appropriate measures to restore and preserve control of the aircraft to its
lawful commander.
HAGUE CONFERENCE-1970
 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft was signed at
the Hague in December 1970.
 The Convention defines the Act of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, and lists which
Contracting States have undertaken to make such offences punishable by severe
penalties.
 The Convention contains detailed provisions on the establishment of
jurisdiction by States over the offence, on the taking of the offender into custody
and on the prosecution or extradition of the offender.
40

MONTREAL CONFERENCE-1971
 This convention came into force on 26 January 1973.
 It is mainly concerned with acts other than those pertaining to the unlawful seizure of aircraft.
For example:
 Acts of violence on board which endanger people and property and safety of the aeroplane.
 The destruction of an aircraft in service or causing damage which renders it incapable of
flight or which is likely to endanger its safety in flight.
 Placing in an aircraft any device likely to destroy, damage or render unfit for flight any
aircraft.
 Destroying or damaging any air navigation facility or interference with its correct
operation.
 The communication of information known to be false which endangers the safety of an
aeroplane in flight.
THE PROTOCOL SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE MONTREAL CONVENTİON OF 1971
 This protocol was adopted by a conference, which met at Montreal in 1988.
 It extends the definition of offence given in the 1971 Convention to include specified acts of
violence at airports serving international civil aviation. Such acts include:
 The international and unlawful use of any device, substance or weapon in performing an act of
violence against a person at an airport serving international civil aviation, which causes or is
likely to cause serious injury or death.
 The international and unlawful use of any device, substance or weapon to:
a. Destroy or seriously damage the facilities of an airport.
b. Destroy or seriously damage aircraft not in service at the airport.
c. Distrupt the services at an airport.
41

 The freedoms of the air are a set of commercial
aviation rights granting a country’s airline the
privilege to enter and land in another country’s
airspace.
 formulated as a result of disagreements over the extent of
aviation liberalization in the Convention on International
Civil Aviation of 1944, known as the Chicago Convention.
 The freedoms of the air are the fundamental building
blocks of the international commercial aviation route
network
 The United States had called for a standardized set of
separate air rights which may be negotiated between states,
but most of the other countries involved were concerned that
the size of the U.S. airlines would dominate all world air
travel if there were not strict rules.
43

 First Freedom of the Air - the right or privilege,
in respect of scheduled international air services,
granted by one State to another State or States to
fly across its territory without landing (also
known as a First Freedom Right).
44

 Second Freedom of the Air - the right or
privilege, in respect of scheduled international
air services, granted by one State to another
State or States to land in its territory for non-
traffic purposes (also known as a Second
Freedom Right).
45

 Third Freedom of The Air - the right or
State to put down, in the territory of the first
State, traffic coming from the home State of the
carrier (also known as a Third Freedom Right).
46

 Fourth Freedom of The Air - the right or
State to take on, in the territory of the first
State, traffic destined for the home State of the
carrier (also known as a Fourth Freedom
Right).
48

 Fifth Freedom of The Air - the right or
State to put down and to take on, in the
territory of the first State, traffic coming from
or destined to a third State (also known as a
Fifth Freedom Right).
50

ICAO characterizes all “freedoms” beyond the Fifth as
“so-called” because only the first five “freedoms”
have been officially recognized as such by
international treaty.
 Sixth Freedom of The Air - the right or privilege, in
respect of scheduled international air services, of
transporting, via the home State of the carrier, traffic
moving between two other States (also known as a
Sixth Freedom Right).
The so-called Sixth Freedom of the Air, unlike the
first five freedoms, is not incorporated as such into
any widely recognized air service agreements such
as the “Five Freedoms Agreement”.
52

 Seventh Freedom of The Air - the right or
State, of transporting traffic between the
territory of the granting State and any third
State with no requirement to include on such
operation any point in the territory of the
recipient State, i.e the service need not connect
to or be an extension of any service to/from the
home State of the carrier.
54

 Eighth Freedom of The Air - the right or
air services, of transporting cabotage traffic
between two points in the territory of the
granting State on a service which originates or
terminates in the home country of the foreign
carrier or (in connection with the so-called
Seventh Freedom of the Air) outside the
territory of the granting State (also known as a
Eighth Freedom Right or “consecutive
cabotage”).
56

 Ninth Freedom of The Air - the right or
privilege of transporting cabotage traffic of the
granting State on a service performed entirely
within the territory of the granting State (also
known as a Ninth Freedom Right or “stand
alone" cabotage).
59

 History
 Sources of the law of the sea
 Codification
 The Hague Codification Conference of 1930
 UNCLOS I 1958
 UNCLOS II 1960
 UNCLOS III 1973-1982
 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea

 Maritime areas:
 Baselines
 Territorial Sea
 Contiguous Zone
 Exclusive Economic Zone
 Continental Shelf
 High Seas
 The Area
 Archipelagic Waters
 International Straits

 Delimitation of Maritime Areas
 The Sea-Bed Authority
 Protection of the Marine Environment
 Settlement of Disputes
 Supplementary Reading

 The development of the law of the sea cannot be
separated from the development of international law in
general.
 The modern law of the sea dates to the beginning of
modern international law in the middle of the 17th
century.
 However, there are many examples of collections of rules
and maritime customs in the Middle Ages (i.e. Rhodian
Sea Law, a Byzantine work compiled between 7th and 9th
centuries, 12th century Rolls of Oleron from France,
Consolato del Mare, published in Barcelona in the
middle of the 14th century, Maritime Code of Wisby from
approx. 1407, followed by the Hanseatic League).
Maritime customs began to be accepted throughout
Europe.

 Great geographical discoveries In the 15th and 16th
centuries claims were laid by the powerful maritime
states, especially Portugal and Spain, to the exercise of
sovereignty over vast portions of the seas.
 Portugal claimed maritime sovereignty over the whole of
the Indian Ocean and a very big part of the Atlantic.
 Spain claimed rights over the Pacific and the Gulf of
Mexico. The division of the seas and oceans between
Spain and Portugal by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas was
approved by the Pope.
 Freedom of the seas in opposition to the principle of
maritime sovereignty, the principle of the freedom of the
seas began to develop. The freedom of the high seas was
seen to correspond to the general interests of all states,
particularly as regards freedom of commerce between
nations.

 Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) Grotius, the Dutch lawyer
who is considered to be the father of international law,
is regarded as the father of the law of the sea as well.
 Grotius was one of the first to attack claims to
sovereignty over high seas. In his seminal work on the
subject, Mare Liberum (The Freedom of the Seas),
published in 1609, Grotius articulated the principle of
the freedom of the seas, meaning that the sea should be
free and open to use by all countries.
 His argument was based on two grounds:
1. No sea or ocean can be the property of a nation because
it is impossible for any nation effectively to take it into
possession by occupation.
2. Nature does not give a right to anybody to appropriate
things that may be used by everybody and are
exhaustible.

 Customary law
 International treaties
 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas
 1774 Russia – Turkey on Perpetual Peace and Amity
 1815 Act of the Congress of Vienna
 1884 Paris Convention for the Protection of Submarine Cables
 1888 Convention on the Free Navigation of the Suez Canal
 1903 Panama – USA Convention for the Construction of a Ship Canal
 1907 Convention concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in
Naval Warfare
 1907 Convention relative to the Laying of Automatic Submarine Contact
Mines
 1910 Brussels Convention for the Unification of certain Rules relating to
Assistance and Salvage at Sea
 1923 Geneva Convention and Statute on the Regime of Maritime Ports

The Hague Codification Conference of 1930
 The Conference was unable to adopt a
convention concerning territorial waters as no
agreement could be reached on the question of
the breadth of territorial waters and the
problem of the contiguous zone.
 There was, however, some measure of
agreement regarding the legal status of
territorial waters, the right of innocent passage
and the baseline for measuring the territorial
waters.

 UNCLOS I, Geneva 1958
 Convention on the Territorial Sea and
Contiguous Zone
 Convention on the Continental Shelf
 Convention on the High Seas
 Convention on the Fishing and
Conservation of Living Resources of the High
Seas

UNCLOS II 1960
 The main purpose of UNCLOS II was to
determine the breadth of the territorial sea.
 The Conference failed to agree on the British
6+6 compromise (6 miles territorial sea + 6
miles contiguous zone) proposal.

UNCLOS III 1973-1982
 UNCLOS III experience has been described as “the
largest, most technically complex, continuous
negotiation attempted in modern times” (R.L.
Friedheim).
 UNCLOS III negotiated on the basis of consensus, as a
package deal with the understanding that no
reservations to the Convention be permitted.
 On April 30 1982 The United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea was adopted by voting. 130 states voted
in favour, 4 against (USA, Israel, Turkey and Venezuela)
and 17 abstained.

1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
 The United Nations Law of the Sea Convention was
signed by 117 states on December 10, 1982 in Montego
Bay, Jamaica.
 The Convention entered into force in on November 16,
1994 after being ratified by 60 states.
 The Convention consists of 17 parts with 320 articles and
9 annexes
 The Convention is a comprehensive code of rules of
international law on the sea. The greater part of the
Convention reflects already existing customary and
conventional (1958 Conventions) law of the sea.
However, much of the previous law was thereby
changed and many new rules introduced.

 With one exception relating to the outer limit of the
continental shelf, all maritime zones are measured
from the baseline which was originally associated
with the measurement of the breadth of the territorial
sea
 Under article 5 of UNCLOS (in Part II) there are two
kinds of baselines –
 the normal
 and the straight baseline
78

 Normal baseline (Article 5)
The normal baseline for measuring the breadth of the
territorial sea is the low water line along the coast as
marked on large-scale charts officially recognized by the
coastal State.
 Straight baselines (Article 7)
In localities where the coastline is deeply indented and cut
into, or if there is a fringe of islands along the coast in its
immediate vicinity, the method of straight baselines
joining appropriate points may be employed in drawing
the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is
measured.
 Combination of methods for determining baselines
(Article 14)
The coastal State may determine baselines in turn by any of
the methods provided for in the foregoing articles to suit
different conditions.

 Internal waters (Article 8)
Waters on the landward side of the baseline of the territorial
sea form part of the internal waters of the State.
 The coast state enjoys the same complete territorial
sovereignty over the internal waters as it does over its land
domain
 Mostly waters in a port area are part of internal waters
because the baseline is usually drawn along the outer
perimeter of the port
 Although, there is no international consensus, arguably a
foreign ship has no inherent right to enter a port and must
obtain inward clearance (see however, the Aramco
Arbitration of 1958)
 Also under customary international law, a ship in distress is
entitled to port entry if human life is at risk

 Bays (Article10)
 For the purposes of this Convention, a bay is a well-
marked indentation whose penetration is in such
proportion to the width of its mouth as to contain land-
locked waters and constitute more than a mere
curvature of the coast.
 An indentation shall not, however, be regarded as a bay
unless its area is as large as, or larger than, that of the
semi-circle whose diameter is a line drawn across the
mouth of that indentation.
 Where the distance between the low-water marks of the
natural entrance points of a bay exceeds 24 nautical
miles, a straight baseline of 24 nautical miles shall be
drawn within the bay in such a manner as to enclose the
maximum area of water that is possible with a line of
that length.
83

 Every State has the right to establish the breadth of
its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding
12 nautical miles, measured from baselines
determined in accordance with this Convention
(Article 3)
 The outer limit of the territorial sea is the line
every point of which is at a distance from the
nearest point of the baseline equal to the breadth
of the territorial sea (Article 4)

 The territorial sea is the seaward extension of the
land territory of the coastal state (Part II)
 Under UNCLOS its breadth is 12 nm measured
from the baseline.
 Previously under customary law and state practice it
was 3 nm based on the “cannon-shot rule” except in
the Scandinavian countries where it was 4 nm.
87

 Right of innocent passage (Article17)
Ships of all States, whether coastal or land-locked, enjoy the right of
innocent passage through the territorial sea.
 Passage shall be continuous and expeditious. However,
passage includes stopping and anchoring, but only in so far as
the same are incidental to ordinary navigation or are rendered
necessary by force majeure or distress or for the purpose of
rendering assistance to persons, ships or aircraft in danger or
distress.
 Passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the
peace, good order or security of the coastal State. The
Convention (Article 19) includes a list of activities prejudicial to
the peace, good order or security of the coastal State (e.g. threat
or use of force, exercise with weapons, fishing, propaganda).

 Contiguous zone (Article33)
 a zone contiguous to its territorial sea, described as the
contiguous zone, the coastal State may exercise the
control necessary to:
(a) prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal,
immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its
territory or territorial sea;
(b) punish infringement of the above laws and
regulations committed within its territory or territorial
sea.
 The contiguous zone may not extend beyond
24 nautical miles from the baselines from which the
breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

 The exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and
adjacent to the territorial sea.
 In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal State has:
1. 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;

2. jurisdiction as provided for in the relevant provisions
of this Convention with regard to:
1. the establishment and use of artificial islands,
installations and structures;
2. marine scientific research;
3. the protection and preservation of the marine
environment.
 The width of the EEZ is 188 nm measured from the
outer limit of the territorial sea to 200 nm from the
baseline.
 The exclusive economic zone shall not extend
beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from
which the breadth of the territorial sea is
measured.
91

 The EEZ is neither a part of the territorial sea nor
the high seas and is therefore rightly referred to as a
regime sui generis
 The EEZ consists of the superjacent waters in the
zone as well as the seabed and subsoil underlying
the waters.
92

 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 200 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.
 the outer limit of the continental shelf shall not exceed
350 nautical miles from the baselines from which the
breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

 The regime of the continental shelf in UNCLOS Part VI has its
roots in the Truman Proclamation of 1945 in which President
Truman stated that “the natural resources of the subsoil and
seabed of the continental shelf beneath the high seas but
contiguous to the coasts of the United States as appertaining to
the United States, subject to its jurisdiction and control”
 The continental shelf is both a legal doctrine as well as a
geological phenomenon and is described as “the natural
prolongation of the continental land mass” taking account of
the marine geological concept of features being either
“oceanic” or continental
 As depicted in the diagram above the continental shelf consists
of three components, namely, the shelf, the slope, and the rise
collectively known as the continental margin and is reflected in
the definition in Article 76
 Seaward of the continental margin lies the abyssal plain which
is a part of the deep seabed under UNCLOS.
94

 High seas regime applies in 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
 The high seas are open to all States, whether coastal or land-
locked. It comprises, inter alia, both for coastal and land-locked
States:
1. freedom of navigation;
2. freedom of over flight;
3. freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines;
4. freedom to construct artificial islands and other
installations permitted under international law;
5. freedom of fishing;
6. freedom of scientific research.

 Part 7 of UNCLOS deals with High Seas which is
not a maritime zone of a coastal state but is of crucial
significance in respect of the coastal State’s rights
and jurisdiction
 The regime of High Seas under UNCLOS is based on
the doctrine of freedom of the seas or mare liberum
enunciated by Hugo Grotius and also on the Roman
law doctrine of res communis or res publico
 Article 88 expressly provides for the High Seas to be
reserved for peaceful purposes
96

 Articles 101 to 108 deal with the topical issue of
high seas piracy which is considered to be a jus
cogens (peremptory norm of international law)
crime.
 With respect to piracy, universal jurisdiction is
applicable in the high seas; in other words, all states
have the right to take action and the duty to
cooperate in the repression of piracy
 The coastal State has no jurisdiction in the high seas
except where the doctrine of hot pursuit is
applicable under Article 111 or under the
Intervention Convention of 1969 where there is
imminent threat of pollution to its coast line or
coastal interests.
97

 The Area and its resources are the common heritage of
mankind (Article 136)
 No State shall claim or exercise sovereignty or
sovereign rights over any part of the Area or its
resources, nor shall any State or natural or juridical
person appropriate any part thereof. No such claim or
exercise of sovereignty or sovereign rights nor such
appropriation shall be recognized.
 All rights in the resources of the Area are vested in
mankind as a whole, on whose behalf the Authority
shall act.

 Straits used for international navigations are straits which are used
for international navigation between one part of the high seas or an
exclusive economic zone and another part of the high seas or an
exclusive economic zone.
 In international straits all ships and aircraft enjoy the right of transit
passage, which shall not be impeded.
 Transit passage means the exercise of the freedom of navigation and
over flight solely for the purpose of continuous and expeditious
transit between one part of the high seas or an exclusive economic
zone and another part of the high seas or an exclusive economic
zone.
 States bordering straits may designate sea lanes and prescribe traffic
separation schemes for navigation in straits where necessary to
promote the safe passage of ships.
 There shall be no suspension of transit passage.

 "archipelagic State" means a State constituted wholly by one or
more archipelagos and may include other islands;
 "archipelago" means a group of islands, including parts of islands.
 An archipelagic State may draw straight archipelagic baselines
joining the outermost points of the outermost islands of the
archipelago provided that within such baselines are included the
main islands and an area in which the ratio of the area of the
water to the area of the land, including atolls, is between 1 to 1
and 9 to 1.
 The length of such baselines shall, in principle, not exceed 100
nautical miles.
 The breadth of the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the
exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf shall be
measured from archipelagic baselines.

 The breadth of the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the
exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf shall be
measured from archipelagic baselines drawn in accordance with
article 47.
 The sovereignty of an archipelagic State extends to the waters
enclosed by the archipelagic baselines. This sovereignty extends to
the air space over the archipelagic waters, as well as to their bed
and subsoil, and the resources contained therein.
 All ships and aircraft enjoy the right of archipelagic sea lanes
passage in such sea lanes and air routes.
 Archipelagic sea lanes passage means the exercise in accordance
with this Convention of the rights of navigation and over flight in
the Normal mode solely for the purpose of continuous,
expeditious and Unobstructed transit between one part of the high
seas or an exclusive economic zone and another part of the high
seas or an exclusive economic zone.

 Approximately one-fifth of the world's countries
are landlocked and have no access to the oceans.
 There are 43 landlocked countries that do not
have direct access to an ocean or ocean-accessible
sea (such as the Mediterranean Sea).
 They have the disadvantageous situation of
needing to rely upon neighboring countries for
access to seaports.
 For example, Ethiopia relies on Eritrea for access
to the Red Sea and recent conflicts have made
that access difficult.
108

Doubly-Landlocked Countries
 There are two special landlocked countries that
are known as doubly-landlocked countries,
completely surrounded by other landlocked
countries.
 The two doubly-landlocked countries are
Uzbekistan (surrounded by Afghanistan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and,
Turkmenistan) and Liechtenstein (surrounded
by Austria and Switzerland).
109

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