(v

g. uaritime Belt or Territorial Waters'

Mantime belt or territorial waters is that belt of the sea which is adjacent to the mat State and over
which the coastal State exercises the sovereignty.21 Coastal State Moises sovereignty not only over the
territorial waters, but also over air space over the We sea as well as to its bed and sub-soil.” According to
Article 2(3) of the UN. Mention on the Law of Sea, 1982, the sovereignty over the territorial waters is
exercised sunset to the convention and other mles oi international law.

Problem of Breadth of Territorial \lllaters23

Maritime belt is that part of the sea over which the coastal States exercise sovereignty. Since the coastal
State exercises sovereignty over this part of the see. here should be a definite limit of the breadth of the
maritime belt. There was a great controversy in this connection under international law for considerable
period of time. in be View of thalamus iurist Bynkershoek, the breadth oi maritime belt extends to that
names Were a cannon can tire. Up-to eighteenth century, the range of cannon shot was Wee “1368.
Hence the cannon shot rule, 1.9., 3 miles of maritime belt, became a prevalent prmble. According to
Grotius, the sovereignty of the coastal State over the maritime belt