INTERNATIONAL LAW
W.B. Fisch, Fall 2008

Assignment #22

[Ch. 11.  THE LAW OF THE SEA]

            C.  The Continental Shelf, Fisheries Zones, and the Exclusive Economic Zone

                       


1.                  The Truman Proclamation, p. 711 (1945)

a.                  What kind of document is this?

i.                    Does it purport to state or restate customary international law?

ii.                 If not, on what authority does it rest?

b.                  Does it state or imply a definition of the boundary between continental shelf and deep seabed?  How should it be defined?

i.                    1945 press release: “no more than 100 fathoms” under ocean surface

ii.                 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf, 1958:

(1)              at least 200 metres (roughly 100 fathoms!), and further:

(2)              technological definition: to where depth of water “admits of the exploitation of the natural resources”

iii.               UNCLOS art. 76:

(1)              topographical definition (slope, rise, crust, etc.)

(2)              distance from baseline: no less than 200 miles, no more than 350

2.                  Baselines

a.                  Significance of Baseline

i.                    defines outer limit of land territory, area of fullest sovereignty

ii.                 defines inner limit of territorial sea, over which coastal state sovereignty is limited by rights of passage

b.                  Straight Baselines

i.                    Norwegian Fisheries Case (ICJ 1951)

(1)              IL doesn’t forbid the use of straight baselines  (i.e., those that don’t precisely follow the low-water line)

(2)              if IL limits the length of straight baseline segments, Norway isn’t bound by the rule (consistent rejection)

(3)              Britain can’t invoke it against Norway in any event (estoppel)

ii.                 codification of the Fisheries Case w/ modification: UNCLOS art. 7

(1)              under what conditions may straight baselines be used?

(2)              is there a limit to the length of any segment?

3.                  FISHERIES JURISDICTION CASE, p. 717 (ICJ 1974)

a.                  What is Iceland’s claim?

b.                  does IL support UK objection to Iceland’s claim?

c.                  is UK entitled to free access to fisheries outside of Iceland’s 12-mile Zone?

d.                  how was the dispute resolved?

e.                  how was the international law issue settled?

4.                  UNCLOS Part V: Exclusive Economic Zone, p. 726

a.                   is this rule a codification of customary law?

b.                  does it provide for any trade-offs against the grant of exclusive jurisdiction?  What other interests are given particular recognition?