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Law of Sea: United Nations Convention on The Law of Sea

ABSTRACT

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) establishes a comprehensive framework for global ocean and sea governance, blending traditional maritime principles with modern legal frameworks. UNCLOS addresses current environmental and resource challenges, providing a roadmap for maritime law development. It serves as a vital instrument for cooperative ocean governance, with the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs' Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS) as its secretariat, ensuring consistent application.


UNCLOS is transformative, clarifying territorial sea boundaries, exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and continental shelf delimitation. It introduces conflict resolution procedures, promoting peaceful coexistence among coastal nations. Notably, it created the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to oversee deep-sea mineral resources, emphasising humanity's common heritage.


India interprets UNCLOS differently from the USA, asserting greater control over foreign military activities within its EEZ. While UNCLOS doesn't explicitly grant this authority, India's domestic law, the Maritime Act, supports its stance. The origin of India's EEZ boundary is linked to its 2009 gazette notification, involving straight baselines around Lakshadweep.


UNCLOS is a milestone in global legal systems, fostering collaboration, sustainable ocean governance, and harmonising traditional practices with modern challenges. It demonstrates cooperative regulation amid the continued importance of oceans for human well-being. Over 140 states have ratified UNCLOS, endorsing its dispute resolution mechanisms for interpreting and applying its provisions.


 

Impact of UNCLOS on Exclusive Economic Zone

A coastal state has the right to explore and exploit the area within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and is also responsible for managing and conserving any living or non-living resources that are present there. This area typically extends 200 nautical miles from the coast. Depending on whether the subsidised fishing activity occurs inside or outside a member's EEZ, some proposals would adjust some disciplines. Each coastal State can claim an EEZ that extends outward up to 200 nautical miles from its baselines and is contiguous to and beyond its territorial sea. A coastal state has sovereign rights to explore, utilise, protect, and manage natural resources, both living and nonliving, on the seabed and in the subsoil inside its EEZ. The ability to engage in activities like using wind, water, and currents to generate energy.


India And the United Nations Convention on The Law of The Sea

In terms of how coastal nations are allowed to prevent foreign military ships from conducting military operations within their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), India and the USA interpret this authority differently. China and India agree that there should be more governmental oversight of foreign military activity within their exclusive economic zones (EEZs). The ability of a coastal state to prevent foreign ships from conducting military operations within its EEZ is not generally recognised. The UNCLOS does not formally include such a right in the body of international maritime law. But it still shows up in unilateral statements nations make upon joining the agreement.


When India signed UNCLOS in 1995, it stated that it understood the convention to prohibit "other states from carrying out in the EEZ, and in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosions, without the consent of the coastal states." India enacted its domestic law, The Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 (hence referred to as the Maritime Act), to buttress its stance on the legality of foreign ships conducting military operations in its EEZ.


After giving the Central Government advance notice, foreign warships are permitted to enter India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under Section 4(2) of the Maritime Act. The act does not mention "consent" or "permission", and the preceding notice is just a notification that the passage has taken place without requiring a response from the federal government. While the domestic legislation enacted by the Chinese government calls for "permission”.


We must first determine the origin of India's 200 nautical miles to comprehend and respond to this query. Through a 2009 gazette notification, India announced baselines, which comprised straight baselines around Lakshadweep, to proclaim a new maritime area as a part of the nation's territorial seas. It comprises the nine-degree canal, which is strategically important and runs through the Lakshadweep group of islands. This channel is a component of the international shipping lane that connects the Gulf of Aden to Southeast Asia.


UNCLOS stipulates that only archipelagic states, such as Indonesia, as opposed to continental states like India, are permitted to enclose island groupings using straight baselines. Despite not acknowledging India's 2009 Gazette announcement, the US has never directly objected to the straight baselines around Lakshadweep. The current FONOP operation's location has also sparked worries that it could jeopardise India's baselines enclosing the Lakshadweep islands.


In India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the USA carried out Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs). The FONOP's mission is to uphold international law and to confront nations that make disproportionate maritime claims. The previous US Navy public acknowledgement of a military ship entering India's EEZ makes the current development look out of the ordinary. Every report before 2018 demonstrates that the US military has repeatedly entered India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) without permission. This is true even for 2018. However, each year, in its yearly reports, FONOP issues a release disputing these assertions. Although they were annually documented, the U.S. Department of Defence has not made these activities concerning India widely known in real-time.


Article 27: Criminal Jurisdiction on Board A Foreign Ship

Except under the following circumstances, the coastal State's criminal authority should not be used to make any arrests or launch any investigations on board a foreign ship transiting its territorial waters for any crime committed there:

1. if the crime's effects are felt in the coastal State;

2. if the crime is one that threatens to impair the nation's peace or the orderly operation of its territorial waters;

3. if the ship's captain or a diplomatic representative or consular official of the flag State has asked the local authorities for help; or

4. whether such steps are necessary to stop the illegal trade in narcotics or psychoactive substances.

The rules above have no bearing on the coastal State's right to take any steps authorised by its laws to arrest or investigate a foreign ship sailing through the territorial sea after leaving internal waters.

In the instances specified in paragraphs 1 and 2, the coastal State shall, if the master so requests, notify a diplomatic agent or consular officer of the flag State before taking any action, and shall enable contact between such agent or officer and the ship's crew. This announcement might be made in an emergency while the necessary actions are being conducted.


The local authorities must give fair consideration to the interests of navigation when deciding whether or how to make an arrest. Except as provided in Part XII or about violations of laws and regulations adopted in accordance with Part V, the coastal State may not take any actions on board a foreign ship transiting its territorial sea to make any arrests or launch any investigations into crimes committed before the ship entered the area. This prohibition applies even if the ship is leaving a foreign port and only transiting the area without entering internal waters.


Conclusion

An international agreement known as UNCLOS was adopted in 1982 and entered into force in 1994. It establishes a thorough framework for the management of the world's oceans and seas, addressing a wide variety of concerns such as navigational rights, territorial waters, exclusive economic zones, continental shelf rights, marine resource conservation, and environmental protection. One of the key pieces of international law that establishes the UNCLOS. It represents the development and codification of a sizable body of legislation that affects a range of economic, political, military, and social interests of States, international organisations, corporations, and people. Every State, whether it is landlocked or coastal, depends on the oceans for its supply of resources as well as for communication and security, and as such, it can gain from the manner in which this global resource is governed. All States' decisions and relationships are impacted by the rights and obligations outlined in UNCLOS. The establishment of the EEZ, the establishment of the transit passage regime, and the creation of a unique international regime for the exploration and exploitation of the deep seabed are just a few notable examples of how the Convention, while firmly grounded in traditional principles of the law of the sea, also represents significant advancements in ocean use. The presence of a mandatory dispute resolution mechanism as a fundamental component of the Convention has been the subject of this work, which has concentrated on one particularly unique aspect of UNCLOS. More than 140 States have ratified the Convention, and by doing so, they also take the unusual step of approving mandatory jurisdiction for specific disputes involving the interpretation and application of this document.


References

 

*This article was authored by Pihoo Agrawal and Ananya Singh, Students from Symbiosis Law School, Noida and reviewed by Sparsh Narayan, Student from Symbiosis Law School, Noida.




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