The UN Conference on the Law of the Sea — The Basic Problems from a Norwegian Point of View

Abstract

The article gives a survey of the basic problems which will be before the forthcoming UN Conference on the Law of the Sea – as seen from a Norwegian point of view. In examining the interrelationship between these problems, the author arrives at the conclusion that the only feasible solution would be a ‘package deal’ covering all the main issues. The juxtaposition of priorities of the various interest groups at the Conference – a majority of coastal states for whom the rights to the resources in an area adjacent to the territorial sea is the most burning issue, and a minority of maritime powers for whom the question of freedom of navigation is more important – indicates the nature of the possible overall compromise solution. Such a solution would, it seems, have to consist of a package deal which must reconcile and accommodate, the interests of maritime freedom on the one hand with on the other hand, the increasing need for management powers, both for the coastal state and for international regulatory bodies. The main elements of such a package would probably have to be the following:

Firstly, a territorial sea limited to a maximum distance of twelve nautical miles from the baselines along the coast. There is already with the exception of a few Latin-American countries, broad agreement that a territorial sea limited to twelve nautical miles should constitute one of the main elements in the solution.

Secondly, guaranteed rights of passage inside the territorial sea, including a special right of free or unimpeded passage through straits used for international navigation. Thirdly, extensive resource management rights for the coastal state in an adjacent area outside the territorial sea. In this adjacent area, which would be called the economic zone and which would extend to a maximum of 200 nautical miles, the jurisdiction of the coastal state would be limited to matters pertaining to the exploitation of the area's natural resources – both its seabed resources and its fisheries resources. The coastal state would also have certain well-defined rights in the zone where measures to combat pollution are concerned, and the right to regulate scientific research. There would be freedom of navigation inside the zone.

In addition to an overall package solution along the lines mentioned above, the new convention will have to establish a legal regime for the exploitation of the natural resources on the seabed and ocean floor in areas outside national jurisdiction. It will also have to establish an international organization for the implementation of this legal regime. The author emphasizes the need for equipping the international organization with broad regulatory powers, in accordance with the basic approach taken by the UN General Assembly in 1970, when declaring the international seabed area as ‘the common heritage of mankind’.