CYIL Vol. 5, 2014

WHAT IS THE LEGAL REGIME OF THE ARCTIC? delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf, the protection of the marine environment, including ice-covered areas, and marine scientific research. The separate zones of the sea are delineated on the basis of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and they can be delineated also in the Arctic – the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic states 33 take steps to delineate the sea zones in accordance with the Convention. According to the Convention the sovereignty of a coastal state extends beyond its land territory and internal waters to an adjacent belt of sea, described as the territorial sea, while their sovereignty is restricted according to both customary international law and the Convention by the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea by ships of other states. Both internal waters and territorial sea are parts of the state territory . Also the seabed under the territorial sea is part of the state territory. Other zones which were delineated according to the Convention should not be appropriated by the states. According to the Convention the states can exercise certain rights, for example in the form of a sovereign right for the purpose of exploring and exploiting of natural resources of its exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf. The exclusive economic zone was newly defined by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. The states also exercise jurisdiction in relation to these zones. They also exercise their jurisdiction over ships and other objects found. This could mean various artificial islands, for example installations and structures for the purpose of exploring and exploiting mineral resources, or for marine scientific research etc. Beyond the exclusive economic zone there is the high sea, which is the international area and all states, coastal or land-locked enjoy freedom of the high seas. Among the oldest freedoms belong freedom of navigation and freedom of fishing. States enjoy other freedoms as well, some of which are listed in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Concerning the seabed beyond the continental shelf, this sea bottom is called the Area, i.e. the seabed beyond the borders of the national jurisdiction of states. The Area is also an international space where a specific legal regime applies, and no state shall appropriate it. The states delineate the separate zones in agreement with the rules of the international law of the sea. The basis for delineation of the zone, i.e. for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea, is the normal baseline, which is the low-water line along the coast as marked on large-scale charts officially recognized by the coastal state (Article 5 of the Convention). In localities where the coastline is deeply indented and cut into, or if there is a fringe of islands along the coast in its immediate vicinity, the method of straight baselines joining appropriate points may be employed. (Article 7, paragraph 1 of the Convention). All zones are delineated on the basis of these lines. In case a state delineates particular zones and these overlap with the zones of other coastal states, it is necessary that these states conduct delimitation in accordance with the rules of the international law of the sea , particularly with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. 33 Taksoe-Jensen. P. An International Governance Framework for the Arctic: Challenges for International Public Law. Zeitschrift fur auslandisches offentliches Recht und Volkerrecht , 2009, 69/3, p. 627.

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