2 Baselines : In determining the extent of a coastal state’s territorial sea and other maritime zones it is obviously necessary to establish from what line on the coast the outer limits are to be measured. This line is referred to as the baseline. The waters on the landward side of the baseline are internal waters and are an integral part of the territory of the coastal state. None of the provisions of the law of the sea

doi:10.4324/9781843143802-89

Chapter

ABSTRACT

It would now be possible to draw a straight baseline along any section of coast in the world and cite an existing straight baseline as a precedent.1

The delimitation of sea areas has always an international aspect; it cannot be dependent merely upon the will of the coastal state as expressed in its municipal law. Although it is true that the act of delimitation is necessarily a unilateral act, because only the coastal state is competent to undertake it, the validity of the delimitation with regard to other states depends upon international law.2