In light of the news today that the Argentinean government has responded to British plans to drill for oil off the Falklands Islands coast by introducing new controls on shipping passing through its territorial waters, I thought it might be worth examining the "legal" implications of their actions.
I refer you to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea - a charter ratified by the governments of Britain and Argentina.
Articles 17, 18, 24 and 26 begin:
"Ships of all States, whether coastal or land-locked, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea. Passage means navigation through the territorial sea for the purpose of: (a) traversing that sea without entering internal waters or calling at a roadstead or port facility outside internal waters; or (b) proceeding to or from internal waters or a call at such roadstead or port facility. The coastal State shall not hamper the innocent passage of foreign ships through the territorial sea. In particular, in the application of this Convention or of any laws or regulations adopted in conformity with this Convention, the coastal State shall not:(a) impose requirements on foreign ships which have the practical effect of denying or impairing the right of innocent passage; or (b) discriminate in form or in fact against the ships of any State or against ships carrying cargoes to, from or on behalf of any State. No charge may be levied upon foreign ships by reason only of their passage through the territorial sea [other than as] payment for specific services rendered to the ship"
Article 76 of the Treaty defines the scope of any particular landmass' continental shelf:
"The continental shelf of a coastal State comprises the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance"
It is worth noting, at this juncture, that the point of the Falkand Islands closest to Argentina lies some 300 miles (480 kilometres) from its coastline.
Article 77, points one and four address the rights of Britain to drill for oil more closely:
"The coastal State exercises over the continental shelf sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring it and exploiting its natural resources... The natural resources referred to in this Part consist of the mineral and other non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil together with living organisms belonging to sedentary species, that is to say, organisms which, at the harvestable stage, either are immobile on or under the seabed or are unable to move except in constant physical contact with the seabed or the subsoil"
Article 81 continues:
"The coastal State shall have the exclusive right to authorize and regulate drilling on the continental shelf for all purposes"
It's an open and shut case: in continuing to deploy bellicose and intimidatory tactics in the pursuit of their irredentist claim on British sovereign territory in the South Atlantic, Argentian is plainly in violation of their obligations under international law. <="shelf:<">
