ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 deals with the most sensitive issue of navigation in straits and archipelagos. Whilst the Corfu Channel Case provides invaluable guidance, it precedes the more permissive concept of transit passage in the 1982 Convention. The Oil Platforms Case is reasonably clear on the right of escort through straits. Arguably, there should also be some right for warships to clear obstructions to their passage, such as mines, as incidental to the right of passage in the normal mode. This should occur within the limits of unit self-defence, however, and not amount to deliberate violations of the sovereignty of the coastal state. Despite the common feature of passage in the normal mode, the considerations for archipelagic sea lanes are different. The much greater extent of the intrusion of such lanes into the archipelagic state, and the lack of a right to visit ports in the state and remain in archipelagic sea lanes passage, means that escort and clearance of obstructions should be more limited.
