Norway gains a huge tract of ocean territory (235,000 sq. km) thanks to winning the rights to a continental shelf
Thursday, April 16, 2009
There were a ton of articles on this in the Norwegian press yesterday, of which this is one. Apparently this is a recommendation on sea territory for nations bordering the Arctic Ocean as they automatically get 200 nautical miles off their coast for free, but there were still some areas that went beyond these 200 miles and each nation submitted their claims to the remaining portions...I think. Here's part of the article:
The commission for the continental shelf's outer limits has issued its final recommendation on the outer limits of the Norwegian continental shelf in northern areas. This means that the size of the part of the seabed where Norway has responsibility for resource management has finally been clarified.You can see the pdf map of the new borders here. An article here also mentions that the Norwegian border now stretches to within 5 degrees of the North Pole.
"This creates clear responsibilities and a predictable framework for the activity in the northern areas. It ensures certain rights and responsibilities for Norway in an ocean area of about 235,000 square kilometres. The recommendation is therefore a historical event of great importance for Norway," said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
This means an area the size of the UK, or 7 football fields per Norwegian.
4 comments:
Hi Dave!
Interesting since I wrote partly my PhD work on this topic. (I can send to you the relevant part if you want). According to certain conditions set by the UNCLOS Convention of 1982, states can get a broader legal continental shelf extending up to 350 nautical miles from their shoreline. As this is a highly technical task, which furthermore implies the rights of neighbouring states, States are thus recommended to ask the opinion of this special UN commission. But this is only a recommendation, not a binding decision as would be a treaty or an adjudication between all the states concerned. Here you can get more information on this case:
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/submission_nor.htm
The first adjudication rendered on a portion of continental shelf beyond 200 miles was made by an inter-provincial Canadian arbitral tribunal between Nova Scotia and Newfoudland-and-Labrador.
I may have been one of the first publicists who wrote about it in France...but who bothers; this did not help me to become a law professor, and instead, I turned into a jobless lawyer...
PhD.O.Simon
I guess the question would be - how effective is this recommendation? Once a country gets a recommendation does it usually then start using the waters, and do other countries then start to stay clear? In the Norwegian newspapers they've presented it as a clear statement of fact - "Norway is bigger!!" "Norway is stronger!" But then again those are just journalists and not lawyers.
According to Art 76§8 of the UNCLOS convention, the limits set of the Commission are compulsory if the coastal state accepts them. Thus, it appears that Norway has only to enact these recommendations to make them final.
Nevertheless, according to Art.9 of Annex II to the UNCLOS Convention, the acts of the Commission do not prejudice the claims of States whose coasts are adjacent or opposite. Thus, the question is what Iceland and Denmark (Greenland + Faeroe) do think of it. According to their letters to the UN Commission, they did not object to Norway's submission insofar their own rights were not prejudiced (a very diplomatic language....). Thus, under the present circumstances, the recommendation can be regarded as final and the Norwegians can rejoice!
About "spams", in fact I reacted as a Frenchman reasoning with the laws of his country where posts should not contain appeals to racism or religious hatreds; otherwise, the blogmaster is to be held liable....
Olivier
According to Art 76§8 of the UNCLOS convention, the limits set of the Commission are compulsory if the coastal state accepts them. Thus, it appears that Norway has only to enact these recommendations to make them final.
Nevertheless, according to Art.9 of Annex II to the UNCLOS Convention, the acts of the Commission do not prejudice the claims of States whose coasts are adjacent or opposite. Thus, the question is what Iceland and Denmark (Greenland + Faeroe) do think of it. According to their letters to the UN Commission, they did not object to Norway's submission insofar their own rights were not prejudiced (a very diplomatic language....). Thus, under the present circumstances, the recommendation can be regarded as final and the Norwegians can rejoice!
About "spams", in fact I reacted as a Frenchman reasoning with the laws of his country where posts should not contain appeals to racism or religious hatreds; otherwise, the blogmaster is to be held liable....
Olivier
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