Sovereignty over Land and Sea in the Arctic Area

Tullio Scovazzi

doi:10.18800/agenda.201601.007

Abstract

The paper reviews the claims over land and waters in the Arctic area. While almost all the disputes over land have today been settled, several questions relating to law of the sea are still pending. They regard straight baselines, navigation in ice-covered areas, transit through international straits, the outer limit of the continental shelf beyond 200 n.m. and delimitation of the exclusive economic zone between opposite or adjacent States.

Highlights

This article aims at briefly reviewing a number of questions relating to the international regime of the Arctic area
Most of them regard the law of the sea and include several important issues, such as straight baselines (Art. 7 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in Montego Bay in 1982; UNCLOS), navigation in ice-covered waters (Art. 234), transit through straits (Arts. from 34 to 44), the outer limit of the continental shelf beyond 200 n.m. (Art. 76), delimitation of exclusive economic zones (Arts. 74 and 83)1
In the declaration adopted on 28 May 2008 at Ilulissat (International Legal Materials, 2008: 382), the five States bordering the Arctic Ocean (Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russian Federation, United States) expressed the following position on how international law of the sea applies to Arctic waters: The law of the sea provides for important rights and obligations concerning the delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf, the protection of the marine environment, including ice-covered areas, freedom of navigation, marine scientific research, and other uses of the sea

Summary

Introduction

This article aims at briefly reviewing a number of questions relating to the international regime of the Arctic area. Most of them regard the law of the sea and include several important issues, such as straight baselines (Art. 7 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in Montego Bay in 1982; UNCLOS), navigation in ice-covered waters (Art. 234), transit through straits (Art. 76), delimitation of exclusive economic zones This makes a quite complex picture from the legal point of view

Questions of Sovereignty over Land

Questions of Sovereignty over the Sea