Chapter 5

Question 1

what is Baseline?

Answer 1

boundary between a state’s territory and international waters

Question 2

what is Common heritage of mankind?

Answer 2

the principle that certain natural resources belong to mankind as a whole
and should be protected from exploitation

Question 3

what is common seabed?

Answer 3

seabed in which no individual state has jurisdiction

Question 4

what is the contiguous zone?

Answer 4

sea zone outside of a territorial sea over which the state has limited law enforcement
rights; extends up to 12 n.m.

Question 5

what is the continental shelf?

Answer 5

seabed in which a coastal state has exclusive rights over natural resources; extends
200 n.m. or more, depending on topography

Question 6

what is Delimitation?

Answer 6

the allocation of legal rights when multiple states claim jurisdiction over the same area

Question 7

what is Diplomatic protection?

Answer 7

assertion of legal claims by a state on behalf of private individuals (including ships)

Question 8

what is Equidistance method?

Answer 8

a geographic technique for drawing a line—called the equidistance or median line—that is equally distant from each state

Question 9

what is a flag state?

Answer 9

the state in which a ship is registered

Question 10

what is Exclusive economic zone?

Answer 10

sea zone in which coastal states can regulate economic activities and natural resource conservation; extends up to 200 n.m.

Question 11

what is High seas?

Answer 11

water in which no state has jurisdiction

Question 12

what is Hot pursuit?

Answer 12

a legal doctrine that allows a state to preserve its law enforcement authority if it follows
certain procedures while pursuing crime suspects at sea

Question 13

what is Inter-generational equity?

Answer 13

the claim that current generations of humans should leave ample resources for
future generations

Question 14

what is Internal waters?

Answer 14

water bodies that lie within a state’s baseline

Question 15

what is Mare clausum?

Answer 15

“closed seas”; the principle that a state can claim exclusive jurisdiction over the sea

Question 16

what is Mare liberum?

Answer 16

“open seas”; the principle that no state can claim jurisdiction over the sea

Question 17

what is the Right to innocent passage?

Answer 17

right of foreign ships to travel through a territorial sea, subject to specified constraints

Question 18

what is Sovereign immunity?

Answer 18

legal rules that protect a state and its activities from the jurisdiction of domestic
courts in foreign states

Question 19

what is Territorial sea?

Answer 19

sea zone that lies outside of a state’s baseline, but over which the state has exclusive jurisdiction; extends up to 12 n.m.

Question 20

what is Universal jurisdiction?

Answer 20

use of a state’s domestic law and institutions to regulate behavior that occurs outside of its domestic territory, does not involve its nationals, and does not have systematic or important effects on itself

Question 21

what is the importance of Truman’s 1945 statements about US coastline?

Answer 21

in these statements Truman claimed ownership over seas near US coastline even though there was no legal justification for this move, and by doing so, he created a new norm which prompted the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

Question 22

what is the importance of the Italian v. Indian dispute in 2012 where two Indian fishermen were killed?

Answer 22

Italian commercial ship Enrica Lexie shot two Indian fisherman off the coast of India because they though the fishmen were pirates. Lexie believed the fishermen were threatening their freedom of navigation and India claimed that the shooting violated their freedom of navigation. Permanent Court of Arbitration concluded that Italy violated India’s right to navigation. They were ordered to pay compensation and were criminally investigated in Italy, however, India was not allowed to criminally investigate them.

Question 23

what is the importance of Artic Sunrise case?

Answer 23

in sept 2013, Greenpeace, an environmental group that conducts protests, sailed the ship Artic Sunrise to protest seabed drilling at Russian offshore platform. after a 3 hour standoff, Russia arrested everyone on the ship and eventually released them. this incident triggered a dispute between Netherlands and Russia at the permanent court of arbitration where Russia argued that UNCLOS freedom of navigation did not allow protest at sea; the arbitrators disagreed and ruled that protested have a right to protest under intl. human rights law and that Russia violated Netherland’s freedom of navigation by not giving due regard to Netherland’s interests.
important to note that Netherlands protected all protestors onboard, not just Dutch nationals, because Netherlands is the flag state for the Artic Sunrise

Question 24

what is the importance of Sea Shepard Conservation Society?

Answer 24

Sea Shepard Conservation Society is a nonprofit org. that used violence against Japanese whaling ships to gain political goals. since they are motivated by policy not financial gains, do they still count as piracy? since it is for private reasons, US court says it is piracy under UNCLOS, however, many experts said UNCLOS def. of piracy is too broad in this aspect.

Question 25

What is the importance of 1985 Achille Lauro?

Answer 25

According to UNCLOS, piracy must involve two ships, but in 1985 4 Palestinian terrorists disguised themselves as crewmates and took control of ship and murdered a Jewish tourist. Once they were arrested, states had difficultly prosecuting them b/c they weren’t considered pirates under UNCLOS because the attack didn’t involve two ships. many experts said UNCLOS def. of piracy is too narrow in this aspect.

Question 26

What is the importance of Somali pirates?

Answer 26

In the 1990s Somali pirates attacked ships in the Somalia sea corridor that connects Indian Ocean and Red Sea. these attacks happened in the territorial sea of states that didn’t have the resources to punish these pirates. in 2008, the UN Security Council passed resolutions that allowed other states to come into this territorial area and capture the pirates.

Question 27

what is the importance of Libya’s baseline?

Answer 27

Libya extended their baseline to claim a large portion of the Mediterranean Sea because their coastline extended inward.

Question 28

What is the importance of Okinotorishima?

Answer 28

Japan claims ownership over Okinotorishima claiming that its an island, however, China and South Korea claim it is a rock, invalidating Japan’s water and seabed claims.

Question 29

what is the importance of the De Beers group?

Answer 29

“multinational corporations often purchase continental shelf rights from coast states”

Question 30

what is the importance of the Greenmark/Denmark and Jan Mayen/Norway dispute in 1993?

Answer 30

their entitlements overlap; if using equidistance method Denmark argues that small island gets too much claim and ignores location of natural resources and differences between state sizes of economy, population, etc.; ultimately, ICJ concluded that Greenland should get more claim than what the equidistant method allows them - equitable delimitation method and equidistant combined

Question 31

what is the importance of North Sea case in 1969?

Answer 31

Germany upset that their entitlement is less than Netherlands and Denmark because their coastline project inward - equitable delimitation method; ICJ agreed with Germany; although 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf requires equidistance, Germany argues that it wasn’t required because it wasn’t CIL and Germany hadn’t ratified the convention