Canadian Internal Waters

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In Canadian law, Canadian Internal Waters are the waters "on the landward side of the baselines of the territorial sea of Canada." [1]

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Definition

The baselines are defined as "the low-water line along the coast or on a low-tide elevation that is situated wholly or partly at a distance not exceeding the breadth of the territorial sea of Canada from the mainland or an island," [2] and the territorial sea is defined as extending 12 nautical miles (22 km) from the points of the baselines, or such other points as may be prescribed. [3] [4] [5]

Canada asserts that all waters within the bounds of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, including the Northwest Passage, are within its internal waters. [6] [7] They also include the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia, Queen Charlotte Sound and Hecate Strait, [8] the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy. [9]

Canada insists that its internal waters are delimited in accordance with the rules laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. [10]

Dispute

The legal status of a section[ which? ] of the Northwest Passage is disputed: Canada considers it to be part of its internal waters, fully under Canadian jurisdiction according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. [11] However, the United States has not accepted the international convention. The US and most maritime nations [ citation needed ] consider the area to be an international strait, which means that foreign vessels have the right of "transit passage". [7] [12] [13] For an international strait, Canada would have the right to enact fishing and environmental regulation, fiscal and smuggling laws, and laws intended for the safety of shipping, but not the right to close the passage. [14] [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

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The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Siberia is accordingly called the Northeast Passage (NEP). The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and from mainland Canada by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passages, Northwestern Passages or the Canadian Internal Waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea</span> International maritime law

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. As of October 2024, 169 sovereign states and the European Union are parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East China Sea</span> Marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">International waters</span> Water outside of national jurisdiction

The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems (aquifers), and wetlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Territorial waters</span> Coastal waters that are part of a sovereign states sovereign territory

Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf. In a narrower sense, the term is often used as a synonym for the territorial sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law of the sea</span> International law concerning maritime environments

Law of the sea is a body of international law governing the rights and duties of states in maritime environments. It concerns matters such as navigational rights, sea mineral claims, and coastal waters jurisdiction. The connotation of ocean law is somewhat broader, but the law of the sea is so comprehensive that it covers all areas of ocean law as well.

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Innocent passage is a concept in the law of the sea that allows for a vessel to pass through the territorial sea of another state, subject to certain restrictions. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Article 19 defines innocent passage as:

  1. Passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State. Such passage shall take place in conformity with this Convention and with other rules of international law.
  2. Passage of a foreign ship shall be considered to be prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State if in the territorial sea it engages in any of the following activities:
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internal waters</span> A nations territorial waters

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a nation's internal waters include waters on the side of the baseline of a nation's territorial waters that is facing toward the land, except in archipelagic states. It includes waterways such as rivers and canals, and sometimes the water within small bays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Territorial claims in the Arctic</span>

The Arctic consists of land, internal waters, territorial seas, exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and international waters above the Arctic Circle. All land, internal waters, territorial seas and EEZs in the Arctic are under the jurisdiction of one of the eight Arctic coastal states: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. International law regulates this area as with other portions of Earth.

Maritime Security Regimes are codes and conventions of behavior agreed upon by coastal states to provide a degree of security within territorial waters and on the high seas.

Transit passage is a concept of the law of the sea, which allows a vessel or aircraft the freedom of navigation or overflight solely for the purpose of continuous and expeditious transit of a strait between one part of the high seas or exclusive economic zone and another. The requirement of continuous and expeditious transit does not preclude passage through the strait for the purpose of entering, leaving or returning from a state bordering the strait, subject to the conditions of entry to that state. The transit passage may be exercised regardless of the nationality (flag) of the ship, its form of ownership, the merchant or government status of a ship or warship, the private or government status of an aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic cooperation and politics</span> Between the eight Arctic nations

Arctic cooperation and politics are partially coordinated via the Arctic Council, composed of the eight Arctic states: the United States, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Denmark with Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The dominant governmental power in Arctic policy resides within the executive offices, legislative bodies, and implementing agencies of the eight Arctic countries, and to a lesser extent other countries, such as United Kingdom, Germany, European Union and China. NGOs and academia play a large part in Arctic policy. Also important are intergovernmental bodies such as the United Nations and NATO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1985 Polar Sea controversy</span>

The 1985 Polar Sea controversy was a diplomatic event triggered by plans for the navigation of USCGC Polar Sea through the Northwest Passage from Greenland to Alaska without formal authorization from the Canadian government. It was the United States' position that the Northwest Passage was an international strait open to shipping and it sought only to notify Canada rather than ask for permission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maritime boundary</span> Conceptual division of Earths water surface areas using physiographical or geopolitical criteria

A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of Earth's water surface areas using physiographical or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources, encompassing maritime features, limits and zones. Generally, a maritime boundary is delineated at a particular distance from a jurisdiction's coastline. Although in some countries the term maritime boundary represents borders of a maritime nation that are recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, maritime borders usually serve to identify the edge of international waters.

An archipelagic state is an island country that consists of one or more archipelagos. The designation is legally defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. The Bahamas, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines are the five original sovereign states that obtained approval in the UNCLOS signed in Montego Bay, Jamaica on 10 December 1982 and qualified as the archipelagic states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exclusive economic zone of Somalia</span>

The exclusive economic zone of Somalia covers 830,389 km2 in the Indian Ocean. It extends to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines, from which the breadth of the nation's territorial waters is measured. In accordance with Law No. 37 passed in 1972, Somalia's EEZ falls under its territorial sovereignty.

A coastal state is a term found in the law of the sea. Although widely used in the legal documents, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), this term lacks a precise definition. The "essential idea" of a coastal state is having an open sea coast and asserting the sovereignty or jurisdiction in the areas of the sea adjacent to this coast. Norway, Canada, and Chile are examples of the coastal states, Churchill counts up a total of 150 of such states.

References

  1. ↑ Oceans Act , S.C. 1996, c. 31, s. 6
  2. ↑ Oceans Act , S.C. 1996, c. 31, s. 5(1)
  3. ↑ Oceans Act , S.C. 1996, c. 31, s. 4
  4. ↑ Territorial Sea Geographical Coordinates Order , C.R.C., c. 1550
  5. ↑ Territorial Sea Geographical Coordinates (Area 7) Order , SOR/85-872
  6. ↑ "Canadian Arctic Islands and Mainland Baselines". www.acls-aatc.ca. Canadian Hydrographic Service. 2000.
  7. 1 2 Nathan VanderKlippe (April 9, 2006). "Northwest Passage gets political name change". CanWest News Service. Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
  8. ↑ "Human Use - Maritime Zones" (PDF). bcmca.ca. Marine Atlas of Pacific Canada. 2013.
  9. ↑ "Offshore adjoining Canada and Canada's Maritime Zones". www.acls-aatc.ca. Canadian Hydrographic Service. 2000.
  10. ↑ Côté, François; Dufresne, Robert (24 October 2008). "The Arctic: Canada's Legal Claims". www.lop.parl.gc.ca. Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  11. ↑ "UNCLOS part IV, ARCHIPELAGIC STATES". Admiralty and Maritime Law Guide. 10 December 1982. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
  12. ↑ Rob Huebert (Winter 2001). "Climate Change and Canadian Sovereignty in the Northwest Passage". ISUMA. pp. 86–94. Archived from the original on 2002-01-31. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
  13. ↑ Alanna Mitchell (February 5, 2000). "The Northwest Passage Thawed". The Globe and Mail . pp. A9. Archived from the original on 2007-12-28. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
  14. ↑ "UNCLOS part III, STRAITS USED FOR INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION". Admiralty and Maritime Law Guide. 10 December 1982. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
  15. ↑ Matthew Carnaghan; Allison Goody (26 January 2006). "Canadian Arctic Sovereignty". Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
  16. ↑ Pharand, Donat (1988). Canada's Arctic Waters in International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 187–189. ISBN   0-521-32503-X.
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