MARITIME ZONES -

TERRITORIAL SEA AND

CONTIGUOUS ZONE
Maritime Zones under National
Jurisdiction
 Under the 1982 UN Convention on the
Law of the Sea (LOSC) the ocean space
surrounding a coastal State is divided
into a series of offshore zones
 The coastal State has sovereignty over
some zones and sovereign rights for
certain purposes over others
Offshore Zones of Jurisdiction
Prescribe law making
and law enforcement LEGAL REGIMES OF THE OCEANS AND
AIRSPACE
powers of coastal States
over foreign vessels and
nationals
Prescribe the rights of
foreign States and their
nationals in various
maritime zones
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Maritime Zones under National
Jurisdiction
Zones Under Sovereignty
 Internal Waters
 Territorial Sea
 Archipelagic waters
Maritime Zones Under Sovereign
Rights
Exclusive Economic Zone
Continental Shelf
Marine Areas beyond National
Jurisdiction
The High Seas
 Freedom of High Seas
The Area (Deep Seabed)
 Common Heritage of Mankind
LEGAL REGIMES OF THE OCEANS AND
AIRSPACE

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Territorial Sea
 Concept of territory (Art.2)
“The sovereignty of a coastal State extends,
beyond its land territory and internal waters
and, in the case of an archipelagic State, its
archipelagic waters, to an adjacent belt of sea,
described as the territorial sea.”
 Sovereignty extends to the airspace over the territorial
sea and to its bed and subsoil.
 Territorial sea not more than 12 nautical miles
from baseline.
 Art. 3 of Law of the Sea Convention 1982
Coastal State Interests in the
Territorial Sea
 Interest of Coastal States
 Law enforcement
 Resource Exploitation
 Environmental protection
 Interests of Foreign States
 Navigation
 Marine scientific research with the consent of the
coastal State
 Licensed fishing
Coastal State Laws and Regulations
 Under Article 21 of the LOSC the coastal State may adopt
laws and regulations relating to innocent passage through
the territorial sea in respect of a range of matters.
 The coastal State may not however impose any
requirements that have the practical effect of denying or
impairing the right of innocent passage or which
discriminate in form or in fact against the ships of any State
(Article 24 LOSC)
Coastal State Laws and Regulations
 The safety of navigation and the regulation of
marine traffic including compulsory pilotage
 The protection of navigational aids and other
installations and facilities
 The protection of cables and pipelines
 The protection and conservation of the living
resources of the sea
Coastal State Laws and Regulations
 The preservation of the environment of the coastal
State and the prevention reduction and control of
environmental pollution
 Marine scientific research and hydrographic
surveys
 The prevention of infringement of the customs,
fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and
regulations of the coastal State
 Surveillance, identification, interception and
arrest of offenders
Origins of Innocent Passage
 Right of innocent passage for vessels in the
territorial sea developed through a combination of
customary international law, judicial decisions and
conventions.
 Intensively reviewed by the International Law
Commission prior to the First United Nations Law
of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS I) in 1958.
 Right of innocent passage first codified in the 1958
Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and
Contiguous Zone.
Current Regime of Innocent Passage
 The current regime of innocent passage is found in
Part II Section 3 of the 1982 UN Law of the Sea
Convention.
 Within the territorial sea of a coastal state foreign
flagged vessels have a right of unimpeded passage
provided their voyage is “innocent.”
What is “passage” ?
 Passage is defined in Article 18 of LOSC to include
traversing through the territorial sea without entering
internal waters or calling at a port.
 It includes navigating through the territorial sea so as to
proceed to or from internal waters or to call at a port
facility.
 It also includes the act of anchoring or stopping though
only in instances where this is incidental to ordinary
navigation, rendered necessary by force majeure or for the
purpose of providing assistance to vessels in distress.
Passage must be “innocent”
 Passage by foreign vessels through the territorial sea of
a coastal State is only permitted where the passage is
innocent.
 Article 19(1) of the LOSC provides that:
“Passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the
peace, good order or security of the coastal State. Such
passage shall take place in conformity with this
Convention and with other rules of international law.”
Innocent Passage
 Article 19(2) of the LOSC lists activities which are
considered to be prejudicial to the peace, good order
and security of the coastal State.
 If a vessel engages in any of these activities then
passage becomes non innocent
Non Innocent Activities
 These include:
 Any threat or use of force against the sovereignty,
territorial integrity or political independence of the
coastal State
 Any exercise or practice with weapons of any kind
 Any act aimed at collecting information to the prejudice
of the defence or security of the coastal State
 Any act of propaganda aimed at affecting the defence or
security of the coastal State
Non Innocent Activities
 Any launching, landing or taking on board of any
aircraft or military device
 The loading or unloading of any commodity, currency
or person contrary to the customs, fiscal, immigration
or sanitary laws and regulations of the coastal State
 Any act of wilful or serious pollution contrary to the
LOSC
Non Innocent Activities
 Any fishing activities
 The carrying out of research or survey activities
 Any act aimed at interfering with any systems of
communication or any other facilities or installations
of the coastal State
 Any other activity not having a direct bearing on
passage
Submarines and Aircraft
 Article 20 of the LOSC provides that submarines and
other underwater vehicles are required to navigate on
the surface and to show their flag in the territorial sea.
 There is no right of overflight by foreign aircraft over
the territorial sea without the permission of the coastal
State
Navigation by Warships
 Warships are entitled to enjoy the right of
innocent passage through the territorial sea.
 That right only exists providing the passage is
innocent and no activities are conducted which
infringe the provision of Article 19 of the LOSC.
 Warships which do not comply with the law and
regulations of a coastal state regarding passage
may be requested by the coastal State to leave the
territorial sea immediately.
Legitimate Prevention of Passage in the Territorial
Sea
 If passage is not innocent, the coastal State has the right,
under Article 25 of the LOSC to take certain steps to
prevent the passage.
 There is no procedure expressly outlined in the LOSC as to
how a coastal State may halt non innocent passage however
there are certain commonly used methods such as verbal
warnings, the positioning of vessels to prevent the
offending vessel from proceeding, the firing of warning
shots, boarding the offending vessel and “bumping off”.
Innocent vs. Non Innocent Passage
 The LOSC is unclear as to whether infringement of
the coastal State’s laws and regulations in the
territorial sea makes the passage non innocent.
 The LOSC does however disclose an intent to
ensure a balance between the right of the coastal
State to exercise appropriate sovereignty and
jurisdiction over its adjacent waters with the right
of innocent passage of foreign vessels in the
territorial sea.
Iranian Example
Was the capture and detention in 2007 of 15 Royal
Marines in the Iranian territorial sea justified
under the law relating to innocent passage in the
territorial sea?
Suspension of Innocent Passage
The LOSC allows the suspension of innocent passage
under Article 25(3):
“The coastal State may without discrimination in form or
fact among foreign ships suspend temporarily in
specified areas of its territorial sea the innocent passage
of foreign ships if such suspension is essential for the
protection of its security, including weapons exercises.
Such suspension shall take effect only after having been
duly published.”
Lusitania Expresso Case
 On 25 February 1992, Indonesia elected to close its
territorial sea to a planned voyage by the Lusitania
Expresso, a Portuguese registered car ferry that was
carrying peace activists from Australia to East Timor.
 In effect Indonesia by this decision suspended the
right of innocent passage for a single vessel.
Lusitania Expresso Case
 The Indonesian Government referred to the voyage of
the Lusitania Expresso as being one which would
“instigate confrontation, aggravate tension, induce
divisiveness and incite disturbances in East Timor.”
 Notwithstanding this reference to perceived threat to
its national security how is it possible to justify
suspension of innocent passage for a single vessel?
Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances in
the Territorial Sea
Article 23 of the LOSC provides that:
“Foreign nuclear powered ships and ships carrying
nuclear or other inherently dangerous or noxious
substances shall, when exercising the right of innocent
passage through the territorial sea, carry documents
and observe special precautionary measures
established for such ships by international
agreements.”
Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances in
the Territorial Sea
 Article 23 does not seem to confer upon the coastal
State the capability to prohibit passage by vessels
carrying certain inherently dangerous cargoes if the
standards set by existing international agreements are
met.
 This issue has been controversial in the Asia Pacific
region over the past 10 to 15 years.
The Voyage of the Akatsuki Maru
 A Japanese vessel the Akatsuki Maru was carrying
plutonium extracted from Japanese nuclear power
plant waste that had earlier been shipped to
Europe for re-processing.
 The vessel took a route from Europe to Japan
around the Cape of Good Hope, through the
Indian Ocean to the south of Australia and then
north through the Tasman Sea between Australia
and NZ into the South and North Pacific Oceans
to Japan.
The Voyage of the Akatsuki Maru
Several States in the region indicated that due to their
concerns over the potential for environmental
devastation if this vessel was involved in a maritime
incident, access to their territorial sea and in some
cases the EEZ was prohibited. Indonesia Malaysia and
Singapore also opposed the passage of the vessel
through the Straits of Malacca.
Vessel Management within the Territorial Sea
 Within the territorial sea, Articles 21 and 22 of the
LOSC recognize that coastal States may adopt laws
and regulations dealing with safety of navigation
and regulation of maritime traffic and to designate
sea lanes and traffic separation schemes.
 Any special navigational regimes must be in
accordance with the rules of international law
adopted in other conventions eg. IMO conventions
and regulations.
Vessel Management within the Territorial Sea
 Coastal States must ensure that such measures do not have
the practical effect of denying or impairing the right of
innocent passage.
 Is a system of compulsory pilotage, mandatory reporting or
restriction of vessels to certain channels an impairment of
the right of innocent passage or a legitimate coastal state
initiative to ensure safety of navigation and protection of
the marine environment?
 These matters are generally resolved through seeking IMO
endorsement of these measures before implementing
them.
Contiguous Zone
Zone of limited sovereign powers

Art. 33 LOSC: Contiguous zone no more than 24

nautical miles from baseline
Origins of the Contiguous Zone
 The contiguous zone is the product of a 19th century idea
that a coastal State had jurisdiction beyond its territorial
sea for the purpose of protecting its revenue against
smuggling and its public health against disease.
 British governments in the 18th century considered that the
liberty to search foreign ships on suspicion of unlawful
trade was one accorded by the law of nations because it
had been found that all precautions that could be taken on
land could not prevent smuggling.
 This led to the Hovering Acts in the 18th century which
provided that all foreign ships found hovering within a
certain distance of the British coast were liable to
forfeiture.
Contiguous Zone Jurisdiction
 Prevention
 Coastal State to exercise “controls” necessary
to prevent (within its territory or territorial
sea) infringement of its laws relating to:
 Customs
 Fiscal
 Immigration or
 Sanitary matters
 Punishment
 Coastal State to punish infringement of
customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws
and regulations committed within its
territory or territorial sea