ABSTRACT
Before we set out to explore maritime crime it is useful to remember the sources of the law of the sea, namely customary law and treaty law. Most of the former has been codified in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as its precursor, the 1958 Geneva Conventions. Other treaties, however, both bilateral and multilateral, address issues relating to the seas. States have certain rights and duties with regard to the seas, depending on the maritime belt under consideration. UNCLOS clearly sets out the various maritime belts. The measurement of maritime belts seawards commences from what are known as baselines. UNCLOS provides for two types of baselines, normal and straight. Where a coastline is not heavily indented, the officially recognised low water mark point represents the normal baseline and thus the starting point for measuring the breadth of the various maritime belts. In the case of indented coastlines, the method of drawing straight lines between points on the coast or at sea may be used. The territorial sea may extend up to 12 nautical miles seaward from the baselines, whereas all waters landward from the baselines are considered internal waters. States retain sovereignty in both internal waters and territorial sea but there is an obligation to grant a right of ‘innocent passage’ in the latter, provided that such passage is not detrimental to the security of the coastal State. UNCLOS also introduced a regime for archipelagic States, that is States made up of a group of closely spaced islands, such as Indonesia. For those States, the territorial sea is a 12 mile zone extending from a line drawn joining the outermost points of the outermost islands of the group that are in close proximity to each other. The waters between the islands are declared archipelagic waters, where ships of all States enjoy the right of innocent passage. As regards international straits, the regime of ‘transit passage’ retains the international status of the straits and gives naval powers the right to unimpeded navigation and overflight. In all matters other than transient navigation, straits are considered territorial waters. Coastal States are also
extending 24 nautical miles from their baselines for the purpose of preventing certain violations and enforcing police powers. This area, known as the ‘contiguous zone’, may be used to curtail offenders violating the laws of the coastal State within its territory or its territorial sea. The exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extends up to 200 nautical miles from the baselines. The coastal State retains sovereign rights but not sovereignty in the EEZ. The continental shelf comprises the seabed and its subsoil that extend beyond the limits of the territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of the coastal State’s land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 miles from the baselines, where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance. In cases where the continental margin extends further than 200 miles, States may claim a continental shelf up to 350 miles from the baseline or 100 miles from the 2,500 metre depth isobath. The coastal State possesses exclusive rights of exploration and exploitation of the continental shelf’s natural resources. The rights of the coastal State over the continental shelf do not affect the legal status of the superjacent waters or of the air space above those waters. Finally, the high seas are open to all States and for a number of purposes, such as navigation, over-flight, laying of submarine cables and fishing, subject to certain restrictions. The international seabed, too, is not subject to the sovereignty of any State, and is part of the ‘common heritage of mankind’.
