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WHAT IS THE LEGAL REGIME OF THE ARCTIC?
delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf, the protection of the marine
environment, including ice-covered areas, and marine scientific research.
The separate zones of the sea are delineated on the basis of the UN Convention
on the Law of the Sea, and they can be delineated also in the Arctic – the Arctic
Ocean. The Arctic states
33
take steps to delineate the sea zones in accordance with
the Convention. According to the Convention the sovereignty of a coastal state extends
beyond its land territory and internal waters to an adjacent belt of sea, described as
the territorial sea, while their sovereignty is restricted according to both customary
international law and the Convention by the right of innocent passage through the
territorial sea by ships of other states. Both internal waters and territorial sea are parts
of the
state territory
. Also the seabed under the territorial sea is part of the state territory.
Other zones which were delineated according to the Convention should not
be
appropriated by the states.
According to the Convention the states can exercise certain
rights, for example in the form of a sovereign right for the purpose of exploring and
exploiting of natural resources of its exclusive economic zone and the continental
shelf. The exclusive economic zone was newly defined by the UN Convention on
the Law of the Sea of 1982. The states also exercise jurisdiction in relation to these
zones. They also exercise their jurisdiction over ships and other objects found. This
could mean various artificial islands, for example installations and structures for
the purpose of exploring and exploiting mineral resources, or for marine scientific
research
etc.
Beyond the exclusive economic zone there is the high sea, which is the
international area
and all states, coastal or land-locked enjoy
freedom of the high seas.
Among the oldest freedoms belong freedom of navigation and freedom of fishing.
States enjoy other freedoms as well, some of which are listed in the UN Convention
on the Law of the Sea. Concerning the seabed beyond the continental shelf, this sea
bottom is called the Area,
i.e.
the seabed beyond the borders of the national jurisdiction
of states. The Area is also an international space where a specific legal regime applies,
and no state shall appropriate it.
The states delineate the separate zones in agreement with the rules of the international
law of the sea. The basis for delineation of the zone,
i.e.
for measuring the breadth of the
territorial sea, is the normal baseline, which is the low-water line along the coast as
marked on large-scale charts officially recognized by the coastal state (Article 5 of the
Convention). In localities where the coastline is deeply indented and cut into, or if
there is a fringe of islands along the coast in its immediate vicinity, the method
of
straight baselines
joining appropriate points may be employed. (Article 7, paragraph 1
of the Convention).
All zones are delineated on the basis of these lines. In case a state delineates
particular zones and these overlap with the zones of other coastal states, it is necessary
that these states conduct delimitation in accordance with the
rules of the international
law of the sea
, particularly with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982.
33
Taksoe-Jensen. P. An International Governance Framework for the Arctic: Challenges for International
Public Law.
Zeitschrift fur auslandisches offentliches Recht und Volkerrecht
, 2009, 69/3, p. 627.