ABSTRACT
The growing use of coastal sea zones and the regulations of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 are forcing coastal states to overcome the present stage of ‘administrative improvization’ regarding the sea and to take concrete and systematic measures to apply the same normal administrative procedures to the sea as are applied on dry land. The increasing number of sea-use conflicts, the threatening environmental problems in semi-enclosed oceans in particular and the need to clarify the legal situation (which also comes under the aspect of international relations) can hardly be satisfied by ad hoc measures, but do ask for clear administrative regulations. There being no systematic administrative framework, a public service at least is unable to act, therefore orderly development of the coastal sea zone cannot be guaranteed.
