On the delimitation of the legal regime of the exclusive economic zone and the high seas. Exclusive economic zone in international law: concept, width, limits, legal regime Exclusive economic zone regime

Article 8.20. Illegal transfer of mineral and (or) living resources on the continental shelf and (or) in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation Loading, unloading or transshipment on the continental shelf and (or) in the exclusive economic zone

This is an area of ​​the sea located outside the official maritime territory of the country, but adjacent to it with a width of up to 200. The distance is calculated along the same boundaries by which the width of the official maritime space is calculated. The exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation currently has the same rights and obligations as those adopted in the coastal territory, and are provided for by the federal law of the country, an international treaty, and the standards specified in international law.

The concept of an exclusive economic zone applies to all islands of this territory, excluding places unsuitable for human life and economic activities. The internal border of this territory is determined according to the external parameters of the country's maritime limits. The distance to the outer border is determined by a width not exceeding 200 miles (in nautical terms).

Coastal rights

The state located within such zones has the legal regime of the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation, which provides for the implementation of such types of activities as:

1) Exploration, development, preservation and enhancement of living natural resources and minerals located in the water covering the seabed, at the very bottom, and in the depths of the local seabed. As well as the disposal of all resources of the designated territory at its own discretion, in accordance with the legislation of the country.

2) Creation of artificial island territories with all legal rights, installation of structures on them for scientific as well as internal research activities. This is done in order to protect and further preserve the natural environment of sea waters and everything living in them.

This means that the state occupying the exclusive economic territory has sovereign rights for the intended purpose. Conducting research or reconnaissance activities in this area is possible only with the permission of the administration of the coastal state, which is the representative of the authorities in this territory.

Permission for the creation of any artificial islands, research installations or other structures for scientific and commercial activities stipulates their location, which must not create any obstacles to recognized international shipping routes. However, safe zones around such structures must be limited to reasonable limits, at least 500 meters.

Responsibilities of the authorities of coastal states

The responsibilities of the authorities of the coastal state include control over the state of living resources, their protection, and regulation of exploitation. To implement this obligation, the amount of allowable catch in the specified area is calculated annually.

The authorities of the coastal state are obliged to constantly and carefully monitor not only the total quantity (volume), but also the species of fish caught. In the event of an imminent danger of a significant reduction in a particular species, the legislation of the Russian Federation on the exclusive economic zone provides the full right to independently impose a ban on fishing for endangered species, and strictly control the implementation of all clauses of the agreement.

If necessary, coastal states are obliged to apply to international organizations with a request to take surveillance measures outside their officially owned territory, as many species of fish and marine animals can migrate over long distances.

Representatives of other states are obliged to take into account the priority rights of the officially designated coastal state adjacent to the exclusive economic zone.

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The UN Convention in Article 55 defines a modern phenomenon in international maritime law, which has come into reality under the name “exclusive economic zone”.

Explanation of the term

The concept of an exclusive economic zone is considered a novelty in international law. The term and its explanation were formulated at the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1982. The provisions of the Convention laid the foundation for the formation of a whole package of documents at the international level.

An exclusive economic zone is a section of water adjacent to the territorial sea, which is subject to a special legal regime. The range of jurisdiction includes the bottom, its subsoil and waters. The newly introduced concept became a compromise between different opinions on the division of space.

Zone width

The convention defined the boundaries of the site. It is accepted that the width of the exclusive economic zone cannot be more than two hundred nautical miles. This is approximately three hundred and seventy kilometers. The countdown is carried out from the baselines, which are the beginning for determining the width of its territorial sea.

The decision of the UN Convention is being implemented. Today, more than a hundred states of the world have defined the limits of an exclusive economic zone of two hundred miles.

Legal order in the territory

The coastal state is competent to implement the legal regime of the exclusive economic zone.

1. Carry out activities aimed at preserving and protecting the marine environment.
2. Carry out scientific research of the deep sea.
3. Create structures and installations, establish artificial islands, use your own structures.

At the same time, the criminal competence of the coastal state is limited. It has the right to carry out inspections, searches, and, if necessary, trial or arrest. In case of detention of a foreign ship, the relevant state is informed about the measures taken through special communication channels. The punishment cannot be imprisonment of the crew or any other form of punishment for its members. After the agreed amount of bail or other material security has been paid, the seized vessel and its crew are immediately released. A different development of events must be approved in an agreement between states.

Powers of the coastal state

International law has established the sovereign rights of the state in this economic part of the sea. These include:

1. research, exploitation and conservation of non-living and living marine resources;
2. stock regulation;
3. use of the zone for economic purposes (in particular, obtaining energy through the use of currents, wind or water);
4. establishing rules for obtaining licenses, places and times of fishing, collecting taxes;
5. exercise of jurisdiction over artificial islands, structures and installations.

Requirements for other countries

The exclusive economic zone is used by other states. They can benefit from international law. All countries freely carry out air travel in airspace over the sea. There are no restrictions on freedom of navigation. States are laying pipelines or submarine cables.

All countries must adhere to the legal rules set by the coastal state. They are obliged to obey its laws, follow its rules, and take into account its rights and obligations.

History of the term

The definition of territory falling under the authority of a coastal state began to be dealt with in the eighteenth century. Initially, the sea boundary was drawn along the horizon line visible from the shore. Later they began to practice the method using long-range coastal weapons. All points in the region could reach its cores. Progress in weapons increased the firing range, which led to the expansion of the coastal area. According to the average, the flight distance of the cannonball was three miles (one mile is one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two meters). Accordingly, the subject water area was five and a half kilometers.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the range of artillery increased to twenty kilometers. England declared twelve miles of adjacent maritime space a customs zone. The USA, France and Russia followed suit. Before the adoption of the UN Convention in 1982, countries established control over water areas according to their own rules. For example, Madagascar and Cameroon considered their waters to be fifty miles, and Peru, Chile, Nicaragua and Ecuador – two hundred miles. It was only in December 1982 that the designation “exclusive economic zone” was adopted in the city of Montego Bay (Jamaica). The Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force in 1994. In Russia, the decision acquired legal force in 1997.

Additional innovations in maritime law

In addition to the concept of “exclusive economic zone,” additional terms in maritime law were developed and approved. They complement the key title, but differ in legal regime. These include the phrases: internal and sea waters, international seabed area and international straits, continental shelf and high seas, contiguous zone and territorial sea.

Internal waters extend the territory of a particular state. This includes bodies of water surrounded on all sides by the shores of this state, sea bays and bays, and port waters. Historical waters are part of inland waters. Historical tradition, for example, considers Peter the Great Bay to be the internal waters of Russia, and Hudson Bay to be the territory of Canada.

The territorial sea is located along the coast of the state and is subject to its authority. The width of the area is twelve miles. It belongs to the territory of the state. Foreign military vessels are given the opportunity for peaceful passage through the designated area.

The contiguous high seas zone is adjacent to the territorial sea and is not more than two hundred miles wide. The coastal state independently makes decisions on the development and exploitation of natural reserves. It may prohibit or permit the creation of artificial islands and structures. Direct forces to define a safety zone around them. Marine research is carried out only with government permission. All other states are granted freedom of navigation by sea and flights in the airspace above it. When laying pipelines or submarine cables, other countries are required to take into account the sovereign freedoms of the coastal state. Landlocked countries participate in the use of economic zone resources after agreeing on conditions with the coastal state.

continental shelf

The exclusive economic zone regime concerns the seabed and its subsoil. Article 76 defines the concept. The continental shelf is the part of the continental territory that is submerged by the sea. It consists of the seabed and subsoil of underwater areas. Its width is equal to the underwater outskirts of the continent or two hundred miles from the original lines. The coastal state extends sovereign rights over the shelf. But they do not affect the status of the airspace above it and the waters covering it.

The coastal state can exploit its natural resources. The seabed and subsoil of the shelf are rich in mineral and other non-living reserves. Organisms that sit motionless during commercial development and living biological species that move only along the bottom also make up the natural reserves of the area.

In the case where the continental shelf is claimed by several states whose coasts are located opposite each other, the signing of an agreement between the countries is required. In the absence of such an agreement, the division of the seabed is carried out according to the rule of equal distance from the original lines.

Beyond the continental shelf line there is an area that has received the status of international seabed. No state can encroach on its sovereignty; all humanity owns the resources of space.

Open sea

The entire sea area beyond the territorial limits of coastal states is called the high seas. It is intended for all states, no matter whether they have access to the sea or not. No country is allowed to subjugate any area of ​​water. It is open for peaceful purposes.

Article 87 of the UN Convention defines the freedoms of the high seas: the right to unhindered flights, navigation, fishing, scientific research, the right to build islands and structures, lay pipelines and cables. The only limitation is the ability of other states to use the freedoms granted.

Any country can send a ship to the high seas under its flag. It is subject to the jurisdiction of this state and is under its protection. The captain of the ship is obliged to come to the rescue of any person in trouble found at sea. When receiving a message about the need for assistance, go to support at the maximum possible speed. In the event of a collision with another ship, assist the crew and passengers. The performance of duties as a captain is possible only if the ship itself, its crew and passengers are not in serious danger.

Straits play an important role in navigation. There are four types:

1. between the open sea and the economic zone;
2. between the territorial sea of ​​a state and the high seas;
3. between the continental zone of the coastal state and the island;
4. with a special legal regime (Black Sea, Baltic Strait).

Exclusive economic zone status in Russia

After ratification of the UN Convention by the Russian Federation in 1997, the country developed a Law on the status of coastal waters. In 1998, the concept of “exclusive economic zone” in international law was used in Federal Law No. 191. The legal act reproduces the main provisions of the UN Convention. Law No. 191-FZ “On the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Russian Federation” described the competence of the federal government in the region. A separate chapter is devoted to the rational use of natural resources, conservation of living organisms, research and exploitation of non-living reserves. A special section is also devoted to scientific research and protection of the marine environment.

The law defines the procedure for implementing its provisions. The responsibility for protecting the zone lies with border services, customs and environmental authorities at the federal level. Officials of these services can stop and inspect ships - both Russian and foreign. They have the right to inspect the constructed islands and installations constructed on the territory of the zone.

Disputes that arise between Russia and other states are resolved using the provisions of international law.

A serious struggle has unfolded in recent years between six countries, including Russia, for the North Polar region of the globe, adjacent to the North Pole.

For the Arctic, that is. But this is not even Antarctica, which is at least a continent.

Russia lost the sovereignty of its Arctic sector in 1997 by ratifying the Convention on the Law of the Sea, which left it with only 200 nautical miles—the so-called “exclusive economic zone.”

These are sea waters, the bottom and subsoil, where the exclusive rights of the coastal state to use mineral and biological resources apply.

And for more than 10 years now, there has been a lawsuit with the UN to expand such a zone of Russia to the previous Soviet size - more than 350 miles.

Read the article about the rights and possibilities of the special legal regime of this zone.

Exclusive economic zone, continental shelf, high seas

An exclusive economic zone is an area outside and adjacent to the territorial sea.

In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal state has the right:

1. sovereign rights for the purpose of exploration, development and conservation of natural resources, both living and non-living, in the waters covering the seabed, as well as in its subsoil, for the purpose of managing these resources and in relation to other activities for economic exploration and development of the resources of the zone;
2. construct and regulate the creation and operation of artificial islands and installations, establish security zones around the islands and installations;
3. determine the time and place of fishing, establish conditions for obtaining licenses, collect fees;
4. establish the allowable catch of living resources;
5. carry out marine scientific research;
6. take measures to protect the marine environment;
7. exercise jurisdiction over the creation of artificial islands, installations, and structures.

The continental shelf is the seabed and its subsoil located beyond the outer limit of the territorial sea of ​​a coastal state to the outer limit of the underwater margin of the continent or up to 200 miles from the baselines from which the width of the territorial sea is measured, when the outer limit of the underwater edge of the continent does not extend to such a distance .

The natural resources of the continental shelf include the mineral and other non-living resources of the surface and subsurface of the seabed of the shelf. also living organisms of “sessile” species - organisms that, during the period of their commercial development, are attached to the bottom or that move only along the bottom.

If states whose coasts are located opposite each other have the right to the same continental shelf, the boundaries of the shelf are determined by agreement between these states, and in the absence of an agreement, by the principle of equal distance from the nearest points of the baselines from which the width of the territorial sea is measured.

The high seas are maritime spaces located outside the territorial sea of ​​coastal states.

The open sea is open to absolutely all states - both coastal and landlocked. In accordance with Art. 87 of the 1982 Convention, all states, including those without access to the sea, have the right to freedom on the high seas:

• flights;
• shipping;
• fisheries;
• construct artificial islands and other installations that are permitted by international law;
• lay submarine cables and pipelines;
• conduct scientific research;
• carry out other actions permitted by international law.

The high seas are reserved for peaceful purposes and no state has the right to claim to subject any part of the high seas to its sovereignty. On the high seas, a ship is subject to the jurisdiction of the state whose flag it flies.

Source: "be5.biz"

Features of the legal regime

An exclusive economic zone is an area outside and adjacent to the territorial sea, which is subject to a special legal regime under the provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.