UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)

Maritime Aquitory I: baselines, internal waters, territorial sea and contiguous zone

What are Baselines?

A baseline is a legal construct: a boundary line that determines where a States maritime
sovereignty and where its jurisdiction begins and ends. In fact, baselines determine all areas
of maritime jurisdiction. They create a demarcation between areas where a State has no
rights and those where a State does enjoy rights.

Under the UNCLOS, the default baseline of a State is the normal baseline:

Article 5 Normal Baseline - Except where otherwise provided in this

Convention, the normal baseline for measuring the breadth of the
territorial sea is the low-water line along the coast as marked on large-
scale charts officially recognized by the coastal State.

In other words, easiest way to think of a normal baseline is as an outline of a States coast.

However, in some situations, it is either impractical or uneconomical to draw a normal

baseline. In such cases, straight baselines are used in lieu of normal baselines.

Below are the rules used under the UNCLOS in determining straight baselines.

Article 7 Straight Baselines -

1. 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
in drawing the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is
measured.

2. Where because of the presence of a delta and other natural

conditions the coastline is highly unstable, the appropriate points may be
selected along the furthest seaward extent of the low-water line and,
notwithstanding subsequent regression of the low-water line, the
straight baselines shall remain effective until changed by the coastal
State in accordance with this Convention.

3. The drawing of straight baselines must not depart to any

appreciable extent from the general direction of the coast, and the sea
areas lying within the lines must be sufficiently closely linked to the land
domain to be subject to the regime of internal waters.
 4. Straight baselines shall not be drawn to and from low-tide
elevations, unless lighthouses or similar installations which are
permanently above sea level have been built on them or except in
instances where the drawing of baselines to and from such elevations has
received general international recognition.

5. Where the method of straight baselines is applicable under

paragraph 1, account may be taken, in determining particular baselines,
of economic interests peculiar to the region concerned, the reality and the
importance of which are clearly evidenced by long usage.

6. The system of straight baselines may not be applied by a State in

such a manner as to cut off the territorial sea of another State from the
high seas or an exclusive economic zone.

What are Internal Waters?

Article 8 Internal waters

1. Except as provided in Part IV, waters on the landward side of the

baseline of the territorial sea form part of the internal waters of the State.

2. Where the establishment of a straight baseline in accordance with

the method set forth in article 7 has the effect of enclosing as internal
waters areas which had not previously been considered as such, a right
of innocent passage as provided in this Convention shall exist in those
waters.

According to the UNCLOS, a nation's internal waters include waters on the landward side of
the baseline of a nation's territorial waters, except in archipelagic states. It includes
waterways such as rivers and canals, and sometimes the water within small bays.

What are Territorial Seas?

Article 3 Breadth of the territorial sea Every State has the right to
establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12
nautical miles, measured from baselines determined in accordance
with this Convention.

Article 4 Outer limit of the territorial sea The outer limit of the
territorial sea is the line every point of which is at a distance from the
nearest point of the baseline equal to the breadth of the territorial sea.
Territorial waters or a territorial sea as defined by the UNCLOS, is a belt of coastal waters
extending at most 12 nautical miles (22.2 km; 13.8 mi) from the baseline (usually the mean
low-water mark) of a coastal state. The territorial sea is regarded as the sovereign territory
of the state, although foreign ships (civilian) are allowed innocent passage through it, or
transit passage for straits; this sovereignty also extends to the airspace over and seabed
below. Adjustment of these boundaries is called, in international law, maritime delimitation.

What are Contiguous Zones?

Article 33 Contiguous zone - 1. In a zone contiguous to its territorial

sea, described as the contiguous zone, the coastal State may exercise
the control necessary to:

(a) prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary

laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea;
(b) punish infringement of the above laws and regulations committed
within its territory or territorial sea.

2. The contiguous zone may not extend beyond 24 nautical miles from
the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

The contiguous zone is a band of water extending from the outer edge of the territorial sea
to up to 24 nautical miles (44.4 km; 27.6 mi) from the baseline, within which a state can exert
limited control for the purpose of preventing or punishing "infringement of its customs,
fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea".

This will typically be 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) wide, but could be more (if a state has
chosen to claim a territorial sea of less than 12 nautical miles), or less, if it would otherwise
overlap another state's contiguous zone. However, unlike the territorial sea, there is no
standard rule for resolving such conflicts and the states in question must negotiate their own
compromise.

Baseline Case #1 - Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case 1951 ICJ Rep. 116

Background: The Fisheries Case was brought before the Court by the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland against Norway. By a Decree of July 12th. 1935, the
Norwegian Government had, in the northern part of the country (north of the Arctic Circle)
delimited the zone in which the fisheries were reserved to its own nationals.

In the past, British fishermen had made incursions along the coasts of Norway. The
fishermen would fish along the rugged coastlines of Norway, which were rich in marine
resources. Norway had attempted to claim ocean areas through some creative cartography:
by drawing straight baselines from points along its rugged coastline and asserting that the
enclosed areas in between the deep fjords were exclusive Norwegian fisheries. The U.K.
argued against this by maintaining that baselines should follow the outline of the coast, using
the trace parallel or courbe tangent methods of drawing baselines.

The United Kingdom asked the Court to state whether this delimitation was not contrary to
international law.

ISSUE: Whether the lines laid down by the 1935 Decree for the purpose of delimiting the
Norwegian fisheries zone have or have not been drawn in accordance with international law.

ICJs Ruling: In, its Judgment the Court found that neither the method employed for the
delimitation by the Decree, nor the lines themselves fixed by the said decree, are contrary to
international law.

A number of subsequent texts (Decrees, Reports, diplomatic correspondence) show that the
method of straight lines, imposed by geography, has been established in the Norwegian
system and consolidated by a constant and sufficiently long practice. The application of this
system encountered no opposition from other States. Even the United Kingdom did not
contest it for many years: it was only in 1933 that the United Kingdom made a formal and
definite protest. And yet, concerned with maritime questions, it could not have been ignorant
of the reiterated manifestations of Norwegian practice, which was so well known. The
general toleration of the international community therefore shows that the Norwegian
system was not regarded as contrary to international law.

The Court in this case took note of the peculiarity of Norways coastline. It is a departure from
the generally adopted principle of States at that time with regard to baselines - that the base-
line must be low-water mark. The UNCLOS codified the straight baselines under Article 7 and
added other rules with regard to its determination.

Baseline Case # 2 Gulf of Maine