The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was signed in 1982 and came into force in 1994. It was ratified by a total of 168 parties among them is the European Union (United Nations, 1982).
Maritime Sector and Social, Economic, and Political Development
In modern countries, the maritime sector plays a major role in the social, economic, and political development. In the past, the fishing and shipping industry experienced a rise in capacity of the number of fleets, trade volume, and fishing activities. Based on the sovereignty of the party countries, the law lays down the rights, responsibilities, and limitations of countries in context to the use of the world's oceans and seas. This includes the guidelines for conducting business, environmental conservation, and the management or utilization of the marine natural resources (Proelss & Maggio, 2017). It replaced the earlier "Freedom of the Seas concept".
Legal Framework and Ocean Space Regulations
Upon the adoption, the convention had nine resolutions and a statement of understanding. It put in place a comprehensive legal framework that would henceforth dictate the use of resources and regulations of all ocean space (Rothwell & Stephens, 2016). The convention recognized the sovereignty of any coastal country to extend beyond its land to the internal waters known as the territorial sea, the air space, bed and subsoil above and below the territorial sea.
Geographical Zones and Governance
Geographically, the UNCLOS splits marine areas into five areas with four of them having a greater focus. They are; the Territorial sea, internal waters, Contiguous Zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone and the High Seas. The zones are pillars of governance to coastal states and navigation through the sea. The Internal waters include areas such as rivers, inlets, ports, and any other landward spaces. The zone is subject to the enforcement of domestic regulations under the jurisdiction of the port state. This is with the exception of foreign vessels as long their activities do not affect the local peace and security (Nordquist, Moore, & Long, 2017). A has the power to prohibit the entry of any privately contracted armed security personnel to its internal waters in regards to the country's legislation. Foreign vessels are also prohibited from passage through the internal waters (Yturriaga & Sánchez, 2017).
Territorial Sea and Baseline Limit
Any state can set up the breadth of its territorial sea to a maximum distance of 12 nautical miles from each point of the baselines. In the case of Islands and reefs, the territorial sea is the seaward low-water baseline of the reef or island (Proelss & Maggio, 2017). Indented baselines or in instances of the presence of Natural barriers, they can be straightened by joining the appropriate points and drawing a straight baseline from which the territorial sea breath will be measured from (United Nations, 1982). The appropriate points should be closely linked to the land domain and drawn towards the low-tide elevations. In the case of bays, the convention considers any area not exceeding 24 nautical miles between the entrance points of the bay and the land is considered as internal waters. If the distance exceeds 24 nautical miles then lines from the baseline shall be drawn to enclose the areas within 24 nautical miles (United Nations, 1982).
Territorial Waters and Sovereignty
The Territorial waters are a sovereign space of the country. The country has the power to set laws and regulations concerning the use of the resources found within this area. However, innocent passage is granted to foreign vessels through the waters. This also includes allowing transit passage and military crafts (Bigagli, 2016). The vessels granted innocent passage are required as per the UNCLOS to pass in a continuous manner that does not affect the peace and security of the country. Some of the restrictions placed on the territorial waters of any coastal country include; fishing, maritime security operations including carriage use of weapons, pollution, and spying. Underwater vessels such as submarines seeking passage through the territorial waters should pass on the surface with their flag shown and visible. For the sake of security and peace, countries are at liberty to temporarily suspend innocent passage or even national passage in specific marine areas (United Nations, 1982).
Contiguous Zone and National Jurisdiction
The next zone is the Contiguous Zone. This is located 12 nautical miles beyond the territorial waters baseline limit. The UNCLOS grants coastal countries the mandate to continue exerting its jurisdiction over its customs and laws within this area. A country has the authority to restrict, prevent or punish any infringement of its national laws, customs laws, fiscal laws, immigration laws and national legislation. The state is responsible for the monitoring and bringing to an end any activity with the possibility of leading to armed violence, importation of weapons or any other activity that is a threat to the state's security (Proelss & Maggio, 2017).
Exclusive Economic Zone and Coastal Sovereignty
The Exclusive Economic Zone comes next. It is located between the territorial sea and the high seas. It extends to a maximum of 200 nautical miles from the shore. In this zone, the foreign vessels can enjoy the high sea navigation freedom. However, the coastal state still retains its sovereignty which is, in this case, limited to exploring, mining, conservation of natural resources and their exploitation (Bigagli, 2016). Therefore, the border agencies of the particular country are at liberty to take action in order to prevent third parties from infringing on the economic assets found in this area, for instance, wind-farming, or fishing activities. Border agencies have the jurisdiction to inspect, board, arrest and start judicial proceedings against foreign parties found violating or not complying with the UNCLO laws and regulations (Nordquist, Nandan, Kraska, & Nijhoff, 2013). However, a state cannot restrict the transit or loitering of foreign vessels either above or under the surface of the exclusive economic zone.
High Seas and Equal Rights
The last zone as stipulated by the UNCLOS is the High Seas. This is the area lying further than 200 nautical miles from the coastal shore of a country. It is an open area that is equally available to everyone. It is controlled by the principle of equal rights which is acknowledged by the UNCLOS for progress, justice and peaceful coexistence of all nations of the world. No state is justified to cause any interference against another country. The UNCLOS grants freedom in several spheres such as vessel navigation including their protection against third-party interference, laying of cables, construction of artificial islands, scientific research, mining and fishing (Yanai, 2014). With this freedom, challenges such as threats of piracy in the high seas. As a requirement to the right of passage for all ships, they should fly their flags as they navigate through the high seas. The ships should have a registration and a flag entitled to it by its nationality and can never change the flag during voyage unless its registration or ownership is changed (Yanai, 2014). Warships are also immune from any state's jurisdiction apart from the flag state.
Conclusion
The division of marine zones by the UNCLOS makes it clear for state's border management agencies about their specific geographical jurisdiction and the laws and regulations that can be enforced within distinct spaces. This, hence, has enhanced peace and security for the coastal countries while still promoting healthy fishing activities. The economic assets and the environment of a country are also protected against exploitation by foreign countries and vessels. The UNCLOS ensures that the sovereignty of a country is maintained by giving powers to state border agency to arrest, prevent, and start judicial proceedings against any parties violating the country's customs laws and the UNCLOS laws pertaining to the conduct required in each of the zones. The maritime enforcement requires adherence to both international and local legal requirements in the fulfillment of a state's civil and military aspects.
References
United Nations. (1982). United Nations convention on the law of the sea : Third United Nations Conference on the law of the sea. New York: International government publication.
Bigagli, E. (2016). The international legal framework for the management of the global oceans social-ecological system. Marine Policy, 155-164.
Nordquist, M. H., Moore, J. N., " Long, R. J. (2017). Legal order in the world's oceans : UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Leiden: Brill.
Nordquist, M. H., Nandan, S. N., Kraska, J., " Nijhoff, M. (2013). UNCLOS 1982 commentary : supplementary documents. Leiden: Brill.
Proelss, A., " Maggio, A. R. (2017). United Nations convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) : a commentary. Munchen: Beck Verlag.
Rothwell, D., " Stephens, T. (2016). The international law of the sea. Oxford: Hart Publishing.
Yanai, S. (2014). Can the UNCLOS Address Challenges of the 21st Century. German yearbook of international law, 43-62.
Yturriaga, J. A., " Sánchez, P. A. (2017). New approaches to the law of the sea. New York: Nova Science Publisher's, Inc.
