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Introduction The high seas comprise all parts of the sea that are not included in the exclusive economic zone, the territorial sea or internal waters of a State, or in the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic State (see further the section below addressing the ‘definition’ of the high seas). The legal regime of the high seas has traditionally been characterised by the
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.
newcomers or saving those in need from suffering in Libya or death on the high seas. But what we have seen in this case bends any concept of ‘public discussion and debate’ beyond breaking point. In making accusations of collusion between people smugglers and rescuers, political actors advanced a set of false claims, the factual basis of which was limited to a small handful of ambiguous incidents which were then read in a tendentious and biased way, without
international fisheries law. That is followed by an analysis of the international regime governing marine fishing, which is divided into three parts. International law makes a sharp division between the regime applying within the limits of national jurisdiction, where around 85 per cent of marine fishing takes place, 13 and the high seas beyond, where the remaining 15 per cent occurs. The first two parts
immediately neighbouring States unless they are able to obtain a right of access to a port in a coastal State by crossing the territory of one or more other States. That is important as most goods traded internationally are at some point transported by sea. 6 Similarly, landlocked States cannot exercise the freedoms of the high seas or rights in the Area unless they can access a
whether the waters of the strait were high seas or territorial sea. If they were high seas, then foreign ships enjoyed the same freedom of navigation, free from coastal jurisdiction or control, through the strait as they enjoyed in any other part of the high seas. If, on the other hand, the strait was comprised of territorial seas of one or more States, then foreign ships enjoyed the right of innocent passage through the strait
a rule of law. By the middle of the nineteenth century the 3-mile limit for the territorial sea, combined with the exclusivity of flag State jurisdiction on the high seas beyond, was well established in Anglo-American practice and served well the interests of free navigation. Great Britain recognised that its wider customs zones were inconsistent with the 3-mile rule. The seizure of the French ship
, coastal States must ensure that the maintenance of the living resources of their EEZs is not endangered by over-exploitation. Both they and high seas fishing States are required to harvest targeted species at the level of maximum sustainable yield. In addition, each set of States is under a duty to prevent populations of ‘species associated with or dependent upon harvested species’ falling to levels at which
rescue, it becomes apparent that the law of the sea cannot convey the messy and entangled way the Mediterranean is being enacted in migration management. A central understanding of maritime geographies and the operations within them is the delineation between high seas and territorial seas. These principles are grounded in early postulations of laws of the sea. In 1609, Hugo Grotius’ ‘The Free
although rights of access, to the extent that they exist, imply a right to leave ports, the right of exit is subject to important and extensive limitations. There is no general or absolute right to leave a port and sail towards the high seas. 40 Thus States are entitled to arrest ships in port, in accordance with their normal legal processes. For example, vessels may be seized for customs