ABSTRACT
The Rockall Bank consists of a very small rock platform which is uninhabitable, but has been formally annexed by the UK. Apart from the UK, claimants to Rockall have been Ireland and, from 1985, Iceland and Denmark. The claims of Iceland and Denmark are based on the argument that the Rockall-Faeroes plateau is a natural prolongation of their land mass, rather than that of Great Britain or Ireland. In 1980, Ireland agreed to a five-man tribunal, but progress was minimal as both sides awaited results from several other ICJ cases. In 1997, the new UK government decided to accede to the UN Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) and accept that the UK fishery limits could not be defined by Rockall as it is not a valid base point under Article 121(3) of the Convention. The new limits are based on St Kilda, with a loss of some 60,000 nml2.
