United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Table of Contents
Overview General Terms and Provisions

Philippines

Spratlys Island Dispute

Commentary

An international agreement that defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their ownership and use of the worlds oceans, establishing guidelines for environment, business and management of marine natural resources. The convention took place at Montego Bay, Jamaica, signed on Dec. 10, 1982, and entered into force on Nov. 16, 1994.

The UNCLOS replaced several treaties which originally and separately conducted to establish territorities, shelves, high seas and rules on fishing and conservation of living resources of the high seas.
One of the primary achievements of the UNCLOS was the introduction of definition of terms regarding territorial waters and its borders. At present, there are 162 parties to the convention.

 Replaced the older freedom of seas concept dating from

the 17th century National rights limited to a belt of water from the coastlines with a measurement of 3 nautical miles developed by Dutch jurist Cornelius van Bynkershoek Canon shot rule . All waters beyond national boundaries were considered international waters: free to all nations, but belonging to none of them

Early

th 20

Century

nations expressed their desire to extend national claims: to

include mineral resources, to protect fish stocks, and to provide the means to enforce pollution controls. Using the customary international law principle of a nation's right to protect its natural resources, US in 1945 extended its control to all the natural resources of its continental shelf. States then such as Argentina, Chile and Ecuador extended their rights to a distance of 200 nautical miles to cover their Humboldt current fishing grounds. Other nations extended their territorial seas to 12 nautical miles.

General Terms and Provisions

TERRITORIAL SEA- belt of sea outwards from the baseline up

to 12 nautical miles beyond the coastline or seashore the land meets the sea or ocean 2 ways of drawing: Straight vs. Normal Normal- follow the curvature of the coast Straight- straight lines drawn connecting selected points on the coast without appreciable departure from the general shape of the coast Sovereignty is same as over its land However subject to right of innocent passage, applying to ships and aircrafts. ROIP is passage not prejudicial to peace, good order or security of the state

 INTERNAL WATERS- all waters landwards from the

baseline of the territory such as part of seas, rivers, lakes or bays With archipelagic states, they rather designate sea lanes and air routes for ROIP as provided also by the UNCLOS

 CONTIGUOUS ZONE- area of water not exceeding 24

nautical miles from the baseline Authority over that area to the extent necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal immigration and sanitation authority over its territorial waters and authority

 EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE (EEZ)- area extending not more than

200 nautical miles beyond baseline State has rights over the economic resources of the sea, seabed and subsoil but not right of navigation and over flight of other states Why is it called EEZ? exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, of the waters superjacent to the seabed and of the seabed and its subsoil, and with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the production of energy from the water, currents and winds; jurisdiction as provided for in the relevant provisions of this Convention are limited only to: (i) establishment and use of artificial islands, installations and structures; (ii) marine scientific research; (iii) the protection and preservation of the marine environment; other rights and duties provided for in this Convention

Utilization of Living Resources within EEZ (Art. 62 of UNCLOS) (a) licensing of fishermen, fishing vessels and equipment, including payment of fees and other forms of remuneration, which, in the case of developing coastal States, may consist of adequate compensation in the field of financing, equipment and technology relating to the fishing industry; (b) determining the species which may be caught, and fixing quotas of catch, whether in relation to particular stocks or groups of stocks or catch per vessel over a period of time or to the catch by nationals of any State during a specified period; (c) regulating seasons and areas of fishing, the types, sizes and amount of gear, and the types, sizes and number of fishing vessels that may be used; (d) fixing the age and size of fish and other species that may be caught; (e) specifying information required of fishing vessels, including catch and effort statistics and vessel position reports; (f) requiring, under the authorization and control of the coastal State, the conduct of specified fisheries research programmes and regulating the conduct of such research, including the sampling of catches, disposition of samples and reporting of associated scientific data; (g) the placing of observers or trainees on board such vessels by the coastal State; (h) the landing of all or any part of the catch by such vessels in the ports of the coastal State; (i) terms and conditions relating to joint ventures or other cooperative arrangements; (j) requirements for the training of personnel and the transfer of fisheries technology, including enhancement of the coastal State's capability of undertaking fisheries research; (k) enforcement procedures.

 DEEP SEABED- the ocean floor, subsoil which lie

beyond any national jurisdiction Considered to be Common Heritage of mankind HIGH SEAS- all parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial sea and internal waters Those beyond the EEZ

ISLANDS- was also defined by the UNCLOS A naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water which is above water at high tide Must sustain human habitation or economic life of their own in order to have EEZ or else will only have territorial sea Very important because of the possibility of exploiting oil and gas resources around the island

Philippines
Since the Treaty of Paris up to the present have

consistently established and drawn the straight baselines Now under RA No. 5446 and also provided under Article I of the Constitution

SPRATLYS ISLAND

 group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in

the South China Sea.

The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia

(Sabah), about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. more than 425,000 square kilometers of sea.

comprise less than four square kilometers of land area spread over
The Spratlys are one of three archipelagos of the South China Sea

which comprise more than 30,000 islands and reefs and which complicate governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia. Such small and remote islands have little economic value in themselves, but are important in establishing international boundaries.

Coral reefs

Vegetation

Wildlife

Other reasons for dispute aside from territorial claims

Hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas)- estimating almost 17

billion tons and considered as fourth largest in the world

Commercial fishing- In 1988, for example, the South China

Sea accounted for eight percent of the total world catch, a figure which has certainly risen. The PRC has predicted that the South China Sea holds combined fishing and oil and gas resources worth one trillion dollars. There have already been numerous clashes between the PRC, the Philippines and other nations over "foreign" fishing vessels in its (EEZ) and the media regularly report the arrest of Chinese fishermen
Commercial shipping- 25% of crude oil passes West Phil. Sea

Parties claiming

Commentary
While it is true that we, the Philippines have a definite and

well recognized basis for claiming the Spratlys which is the UNCLOS as well as national security and terra nullius, I personally do not believe that we can supress Chinas claims against ours for two reasons: 1. they have documents proving their sovereignty dating back to the 30s while ours are dated later; 2. we do not have funds and resources to challenge China into military conflict. Our diplomatic relations with China are indispensable to our economy. If I were the President of the Philippines and would get caught in that situation where it might lead to war, I would consider selling the islands instead for the value of our national debt.