ABSTRACT

The universally accepted qualifications of the freedom of the seas in the nineteenth century were jurisdiction over pirates and jurisdiction over vessels of the same nationality as the intercepting vessel. The problem of exercising jurisdiction in the territorial sea arises only in relation to merchant vessels. Customary law has always regarded the jurisdiction of the flag State over its vessels as primary, and exclusive except in as far as another jurisdiction is conceded by a rule of law or by treaty. A novel development at Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) was the definition of archipelagic States and the recognition of archipelagic waters. In relation to events occurring on the high seas, or within the waters of other States, the attribution to ports within which an offending vessel subsequently docks of jurisdiction over pollution offences is an innovation under the 1982 Convention.