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Introduction Physically, the seabed adjacent to a typical coast is usually considered to consist of three separate sections (illustrated in fig. 1, p. 49). First, the section that slopes down gradually from the low-water mark to a depth, averaging about 130 m, at which the angle of declination increases markedly: this is the continental shelf proper. Second, the section
The law of the sea is an up-to-date and comprehensive treatment of this branch of public international law. It begins by tracing the historical origins of the law of the sea and explaining its sources, notably the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. This is followed by chapters examining the various maritime zones into which the sea is legally divided, namely internal waters, the territorial sea, archipelagic waters, the contiguous zone, the continental shelf, the exclusive economic zone, the high seas and the International Seabed Area. In each case the legal nature of the zone and its physical dimensions are analysed. Separate chapters deal with the baselines from which the breadths of most maritime zones are delineated and the law governing the delimitation of boundaries between overlapping maritime zones. Later chapters discuss how international law regulates the safety of navigation, fisheries and scientific research, and provides for protection of the marine environment from pollution and biodiversity loss. The penultimate chapter addresses the question of landlocked States and the sea. The final chapter outlines the various ways in which maritime disputes may be settled. Throughout the book detailed reference is made not only to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, but also to other relevant instruments, the burgeoning case law of international courts and tribunals, and the academic literature.
Introduction With the possible exception of one or two mid-ocean island States, the maritime zones that States may claim off their coasts (territorial sea, contiguous zone, EEZ and continental shelf) overlap, to a greater or lesser extent, with the maritime zones of one or more neighbouring States. It is common to characterise such neighbouring States as being either
(shipping and dumping) to pollution caused by the more static activity of exploring and exploiting the resources of the seabed, both within and beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. We begin with activities within national jurisdiction, that is the seabed of the territorial sea and the continental shelf. For reasons of space, and also because it is the most significant in terms of pollution, we limit
Introduction As we will see in later chapters, a State may claim a variety of zones off its coast – territorial sea, contiguous zone, EEZ and continental shelf – in which it has rights that other States do not have. With the partial exception of the continental shelf, those zones have specified breadths, expressed in terms of nautical miles. The question then arises as to
Limits in the Seas No. 38 (1974). 6 Law No. 41 of 1 June 1979 concerning the Territorial Sea, the Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf, art. 1 (replacing earlier similar legislation), UN Leg. Ser. B/19, 43; also available on the DOALOS website. 7
Introduction Previous chapters have looked at the maritime zones where States have sovereignty (internal waters, the territorial sea and, in the case of archipelagic States, archipelagic waters), sovereign rights (the continental shelf) or jurisdiction (the contiguous zone). In this chapter we examine the remaining maritime zone where a coastal State has rights that other
States had sovereignty over their territorial sea. For the continental shelf, however, it was made explicit. Article 5(8) of the CSC introduced a requirement of coastal State consent for research ‘concerning the continental shelf and undertaken there’, although such consent was not normally to be withheld in respect of ‘purely scientific research into the physical or biological characteristics’ of the
particular in respect of the areas of imports, health, and migration. The continental shelf (Part VI UNCLOS) shall not exceed 350 nautical miles from the baseline. The coastal state has exclusive jurisdiction to explore and exploit the natural resources in the seabed of the continental shelf. The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (Part V UNCLOS) shall not
independent foreign policy. 15 Other members of the military leadership have also voiced these views. In November 2018, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin stated that the Arctic had been witnessing the intensification of a struggle for unrestricted access to the NSR and the right to extract mineral resources on the continental shelf. 16 In the same month, the director of the National Defence Management Centre, Mikhail