4 - Disputed Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone Areas: Applicable Conventional Rules

Summary

This chapter first appraises the rules of international law that are applicable to disputed territorial sea areas. Article 12 1958 CTS, whose wording is essentially repeated in Article 15 LOSC, provides as follows: historic titles and special circumstances allow States to extend their claim beyond the equidistance boundary; in the absence thereof, the equidistance boundary divides the area of overlapping territorial sea claims. At UNCLOS III, only limited debates occurred in relation to disputed territorial sea areas. As Article 15 LOSC is limited in its sphere of operation once a State invokes historic title or special circumstances, the following question arises: do other rules of international law exert their influence either alongside the interim rule contained in this provision; or when it is inapplicable, what alternative rules can be invoked as a substitute in disputed territorial sea areas? Disputed contiguous zones areas may arise outside the 12 nautical miles limit of the territorial sea. Whereas the issue of an interim rule for overlapping contiguous zone claims was addressed in Article 24(3) 1958 CTS, stipulating that the entitlements of States to a claimed contiguous zone would automatically extend up to the equidistance boundary, the LOSC abandoned this approach.