Table Of ContentSTRAIGHT BASELINES IN INTERNATIONAL
MARITIME BOUNDARY DELIMITATION
Also by W. Michael Reisman
THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE: Diplomatic Alternatives in the
Middle East
FOLDED LIES: Bribery, Crusades, and Reforms
INTERNATIONAL INCIDENTS (co-editor)
INTERNATIONAL LAW ESSAYS (co-editor)
INTERNATIONAL LAW IN CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE
(co-editor)
JURISPRUDENCE (co-author)
NULLITY AND REVISION: The Review and Enforcement of
International Judgments and Awards
POWER AND POLICY IN QUEST OF LAW (co-author)
PUERTO RICO AND THE INTERNATIONAL PROCESS
TOWARD WORLD ORDER AND HUMAN DIGNITY (co-editor)
Also by Gay! S. Westerman
THE JURIDICAL BAY
Straight Baselines in
International Maritime
Boundary Delimitation
W. Michael Reisman
Hohfeld Professor of Jurisprudence
Yale Law School
and
Gayl S. Westerman
Professor of Law
Pace University School of Law
M
MACMILLAN
© W. Michael Reisman and Gay! S. Westerman 1992
Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1992 978-0-333-56570-4
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
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Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this
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claims for damages.
First published 1992 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS L TO
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-1-349-12721-4 ISBN 978-1-349-12719-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-12719-1
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
Copy-edited and typeset by Povey-Edmondson
Okehampton and Rochdale, England
Contents
List of Illustrations X
Table of Cases XII
Introduction XIII
1 The Development of the Concept of Baseline 1
A. A Brief History, Arriving at "the Coast" 1
B. Problems Arising from The Use of the Coast as
Baseline 3
C. The Use of Tidal Data as Baseline 5
D. Baseline Codification Efforts: 1924-30 11
E. Conclusion 17
2 The "Fisheries Case" and Straight Baselines: Judicial Law-
Making 19
A. Introduction 19
B. The Fisheries Case 21
I. Economic Precursors 21
2. The 1935 Norwegian Royal Decree 23
3. The ICJ Proceedings 26
C. Conclusion 37
3 Codification of the Baseline Concept: The International Law
Commission and The Law of the Sea Conferences 38
A. The Work of the International Law Commission:
1952-56 38
B. The First Conference on the Law of the Sea:
Codification of the Straight Baseline Regime 49
C. The Third Conference on the Law of the Sea: The
Expansion of the Straight Baseline Regime to Include
Deltas and Archipelagos 57
D. Conclusion 70
4 Interpreting the Straight Baseline Regime 71
A. Introduction 71
B. The Need for Clarification of the Straight Baseline
Regime 73
v
VI Contents
c. Basic Principles and Interpretative Methodology 75
I. Strict Interpretation 75
2. Strict Fulfillment of the Sequential Conditions
and Tests of the Convention 77
a. The Alternative Preliminary Geographical
Tests of Article 4(1) (LOSC Article 7(1)) 77
(I) "Deeply Indented and Cut Into" 78
(a) "Coastline" 78
(b) "Localities" 78
(c) Origin of Terms 80
(d) "Deep Indentations" 81
(e) "Cut Into" 82
(2) "Fringe of Islands in the Immediate
Vicinity" 82
(a) "Coast" v. "Coastline" 83
(b) Hydrosphere v. Terra Firma 84
(c) "Islands" 84
(d) "Fringe" 86
(e) Spatial Relationship 86
(f) "Along the Coast" 88
(g) "In the Immediate Vicinity" 88
(3) General Considerations 90
b. Restrictions on the Drawing of Baselines: the
Delimitation Rules of Article 4(2)--(5) (LOSC
Article 7(2)--(6)) 91
(I) Selection of Provisional Basepoints 91
(a) "Appropriate Basepoints" 91
(b) """-rormal" Baselines v. "Straight
Baselines" 91
(c) Land-Based Basepoints/Low-Tide
Elevations 92
(<D "General International
Recognition" 93
(e) "Atolls and Fringing Reefs" 94
(f) Island-hopping 94
(2) Assessing "The General Direction of the
Coast" 95
(a) "Court Treatment of Straight
Baselines after the Fisheries
Case" 95
(b) "Appreciable Departures" 97
Contents VII
(3) Proving the Necessary "Internal"
Character of the Enclosed Waters 98
(4) Permissive and Restrictive Exceptions 100
(a) "Economic Interests" 100
(b) "Cut Off the Territorial Sea of
Another State" 101
(c) Lex Specialis 101
3. The Regime of Straight Baselines Must Not be
Used to Circumvent Other Established Rules of
International Law 102
D. Conclusion 103
5 Straight Baseline Claims of States 105
A. Introduction 105
B. State Claims in Substantial Conformity with Article 4
(LOSC Article 7) 107
I. Norway, Sweden, and Finland 107
2. Canada Ill
3. Ireland 116
4. The Netherlands 116
C. State Claims in Violation of Article 4 (LOSC
Article 7) 118
I. Typical Pathologies 118
2. Pathological Claims along Non-Conforming
Coasts 120
a. Baselines Drawn on Non-Indented Coasts 121
(I) Australia 122
(2) Cuba 122
(3) Iceland 125
(4) Senegal 125
b. Baselines Drawn to Connect Non-Fringing
Islands 127
(1) France 129
(2) Guinea 131
(3) Italy 131
(4) Vietnam 133
c. Baselines Drawn Under Article 4 (LOSC
Article 7) which Subvert Other Convention
Provisions 136
(1) Failed Bays under Article 7 (LOSC
Article 10) 136
V111 Contents
(a) Cameroon 144
(b) Colombia (Caribbean Coast) 144
(c) Madagascar 147
(d) Senegal 147
(e) USSR 150
(2) Failed Archipelagos under LOSC
Articles 46-7 151
(a) Pathological Claims by
Non-Archipelagic States 154
(1) Ecuador 154
(2) Spain 156
(b) Pathological Claims by
Archipelagic States 158
(I) Haiti 158
(2) Maldives 160
3. Pathological Claims along Conforming Coasts 163
a. The Misuse of Islands, Rocks and Low-Tide
Elevations 164
(I) Canada 166
(2) Burma 168
(3) Cambodia 172
(4) Chile 172
(5) Colombia (Pacific Coast) 175
(6) South Korea 175
b. The Location of Basepoints at Sea 178
(1) Sweden and Finland 181
(2) Chile and Iran 181
(3) Bangladesh and Venezuela 183
D. Conclusion 189
6 Toward a Rational Law and Diplomacy of Straight
Baselines 191
A. The Need for Policy Change 191
B. Effectuating Policy Change in International Law 198
1. The Problem 198
2. Identifying and Mobilizing Agencies of
Implementation and Enforcement 201
a. International Organizations 207
(1) The United Nations 207
(a) The Security Council 207
Contents IX
(b) The General Assembly: Office of
the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General, Law of the Sea 207
(c) The Seabed Authority 209
(d) International Maritime
Organization (IMO) 212
(e) Food and Agricultural
Organization 212
(2) OECD 214
(3) NATO 215
b. International Tribunals 216
(I) International Court of Justice 216
(2) Law of the Sea Tribunals 218
(a) The International Tribunal for the
Law of the Sea 219
(b) The Seabed Disputes Chamber 220
(3) International Arbitral Tribunals 220
(4) Optional Exceptions: Sea Boundary
Delimitations 221
(5) Conciliation Commission 221
c. Regional Organizations 222
(I) European Community 223
(2) OAS 224
(3) ASEAN 224
d. Functional Interest Coalitions 225
e. Unilateral Action by States 226
(I) The United States 226
f. Non-governmental Organizations 228
(I) International Maritime Committee 229
(2) Scholarly Institutes 229
C. Conclusion 230
Special Documents 231
Bibliography 235
Name Index 238
Subject Index 239
