International law of the sea is a set of certain rules, as well as clear principles that govern the relations of countries in the use of the water area. Since ancient times, this territory has served humanity to carry out various activities. People were engaged in navigation, mining of various resources, scientific research, etc. Nowadays, world states and organizations also enter into various relations with each other in the process of their activities carried out in the vast expanses of water. These relations are regulated by international maritime law, which is a set of legal norms.
Due to the specifics of the activities carried out in the vast expanses of water, the legislative acts that regulate it are not circulated in other areas of interstate relations. These are:
- freedom on the high seas of shipping;
- The right to freely move sea transport through territorial waters belonging to foreign organizations;
- The right of peaceful transit through the straits that are used for the purpose of interethnic shipping, etc.
International law of the sea appears to be an integral part of an integrated system of interstate legal acts. The water spaces of our planet are classified into:
- sovereign territories within the state border;
- spaces that do not belong to any country in the world.
Depending on the membership of a particular group, the legal status of the water area is different. The seas and oceans, which are considered the state territory of a coastal country, have a uniform legal status. However, the legal regimes of territorial, archipelagic and inland waters are somewhat different from each other. A separate type of space is the straits that are used by ships of various states.
Sources of international law of the sea are conventions on continental shelves and fisheries, the protection of resources of water expanses, and on the coastal territory. The system of certain norms and principles regarding the use of neutral space affirms freedom:
- flights;
- shipping;
- laying of pipeline cables;
- fisheries;
- research of a scientific nature.
International law of the sea establishes, outside territorial waters, the subordination of the courts of jurisdiction of that state whose flag is developed on their mast. Military or police officers, as well as border ships of other countries, are not entitled to apply any actions restricting their freedom to them. This principle can be violated only in strictly limited cases, the purpose of which is to ensure the safety of navigation. Thus, military vessels have the right to seize pirate vessels and arrest persons on board. Subsequently, the international tribunal for the law of the sea deals with the processing of cases of robbery or detention, violence or other acts of piracy, which the detained crew committed for personal mercenary purposes. However, in the case when the ship or plane is unreasonably detained, a material payment is made for the damage or loss caused. The same principle should be applied to prosecution rights.
International legislation allows any state to arrest a ship on the high seas. Such actions should be carried out if the foreign ship was a lawbreaker during his presence in the internal borders of the country.
The UN Convention establishes that the space outside territorial waters, as well as its bottom, is reserved for peaceful purposes. This means that states are prohibited from displaying aggressive, provocative, or hostile actions against other countries in these areas.