LAW OF THE SEA

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In 1930, the Hague Codification Conference made an attempt to codify some aspects of the
laws of the sea, but its attempt went in a vain.
Subsequently after the formation of UN it convened 3 international conferences on LOS.
First attempt to codify LOS in 1957 failed. Again second attempt was made in 1958 but that
failed again. They requested member states to conduct study regarding law of sea.
As a result in 1967 Arvind Pardo, Minister of Malta started an extensive study report on
LOS. Along with other study reports UN convened another 3rd International Conference in
1981. This third conference agreed to codify LOS. [UNCLOS III]. In 1982, in the 11th
Session, on April 30, the conference adopted the draft of the Convention on the Law of the
Sea by an overwhelming majority of 130 states. This convention has 320 articles. They are
divided into 17 parts and 9 Annexes. It lays down rules for all parts and virtually all uses of
the oceans.
As per the convention entire sea territory area is classified into four major heads:
Baseline: It is the start line touching the maximum outermost point of coastal state.
Territorial water/ Sea or maritime belt: Territorial sea is the part which is adjacent to the
coastal state. It is measured as 12 nautical miles from baseline.
Contagious zone CZ is measured as 24 nautical miles from baseline. It is that part of the
sea which is beyond and adjacent to territorial waters of the coastal state up to an extent of 12
nautical miles from territorial waters.
Exclusive Economic Zone An area adjacent to contiguous zone of a coastal area up to 200
nautical miles from baseline or 176 nautical miles from CZ is known as the EEZ.
All sea territory beyond EEZ is classified as High Seas.
Continental Shelf Sea bed which is a natural prolongation of a land territory in the sea bed
area is known as Continental Shelf. It is measured as 200 nautical miles from baseline or up
to continental slope whichever is earlier.

Rights Of Coastal State

Territorial Sea or Maritime Bed:
Territorial sea is under the complete sovereignty of coastal state. Other states can claim only
right to innocent passage. Innocent passage : Means a passage without disturbing peace,
security and good order of coastal state.
There is no right to innocent passage for warships. They can pass only after obtaining prior
permission of coastal state.
Exception: Flag Jurisdiction - No jurisdiction over foreign ships.
Contiguous Zone:
Coastal State have all rights to ensure and enforce their laws relating to customs, fiscal laws,
immigration and sanitary regulations including exploitation of natural resources. Territorial
Waters complete sovereignty , CZ limited Sovereignty.
Other States have only:

Right to innocent passage; and

Right to lay down cables and pipelines.

EEZ:
Coastal state can only exploit natural resources and along with exploitation take adequate
resources for conservation, preservation of natural resources.
Other States have only:

Right to innocent passage; and

Right to lay down cables and pipelines.

High Seas
High sea is the area of a sea wherein no state has specific jurisdiction. It is a general rule that
no one can exercise jurisdiction over High Sea. But International Law recognises certain
exceptional circumstances where exercising jurisdiction in High Sea is permitted, such as:
1) Right to Hot Pursuit: Article 111 of UNCLOS says that under circumstances
wherein there is a suspicion on any ship regarding the safety of its own territory, it has
a right to pursue it, till the point necessary, in order to overcome the danger.
2) Right to Visit on Suspicion of Piracy: Article 110 of UNCLOS provides for a right
to a state to visit the High Sea territory under the circumstances when it has a
suspicion of Piracy.

3) Right to Punish Piracy: Article 107 of Law of the Sea Convention, permits
jurisdiction in High Sea to be exercised by a state in order to punish any act of piracy.
4) Right to encounter ships without nationality: This is a Customary International
Law principle, which allows the exercise of jurisdiction by a state to encounter a ship
without nationality i.e. without a flag.
5) Right to Blockade: Under CIL there is also a provision for exercising jurisdiction to
set up blockades during belligerency, blockade here means preventing entry & exit of
ships from port. Under CIL port is where the jurisdiction of a country ends and High
Sea starts.
Every ship has a right to travel through High Sea, if it is prevented to do so, such right is
violated, but that is permissible under exceptional circumstances.
Continental Shelf:
Coastal State: Exploit and preserve natural resources.
Other states: Right to lay down cables and pipelines. Right exercised with consent of state.
If natural prolongation that is CS more than 200 nautical miles then it will belong to
International Sea Bed Authority.

(Peninsula and Archipelago read from book)

INTERNATIONAL SEA BED AUTHORITY
ISBA was established under LOS to deal with matters relating sea bed area beyond
continental shelf.
ISBA comprises of 3 major agencies :
General Assembly: the Assembly is considered the supreme organ of the Authority. It
consists of representatives of all member states. The objective of the assembly is to develop
laws and rules dealing with activities in sea bed area.
Council Executive Body: the Council is the executive organ of the Authority and consists of
36 members elected by the assembly. All rules and regulations made by general assembly are
implemented by the council. For effective functioning of the body there are 2 sub
committees: i) an Economic Planning Commission; and ii) a Legal and Technical
Commission. Each commission shall be composed of 15 members each elected by the
Council.
Secretariat: the Secretariat comprises of a Secretary General and such staff as the Authority
may require. All the major administrative works of the Authority is done by the Secretariat.

DISPUTE SETTLEMENT under UNCLOS

Part XV of the Convention on the Law of the Sea lays down provisions for the settlement of
disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention
There are 4 mains modes of dispute settlement under UNCLOS:
a) By way of International Tribunal for Law of the Sea: (ITLOS): It comprises of 21 experts
and has its head office in Hamburg, Germany. It is one of the tribunals which has
jurisdiction to decide the disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the
Convention. The tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction w.r.t disputes relating to the activities
in international sea bed area.
b) Through International Court of Justice.
c) Through Arbitration as per Annex VII : Panel of arbitration adapted by Convention
d) By way of special arbitration as per Annex VIII
Difference between c) and d) is in Annex VII, there is a list of arbitrators provided but under
Annex VIII parties can choose their own arbitrators.