Islands
- LAST REVIEWED: 27 June 2018
- LAST MODIFIED: 27 June 2018
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199796953-0076
- LAST REVIEWED: 27 June 2018
- LAST MODIFIED: 27 June 2018
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199796953-0076
Introduction
One of the features of the contemporary Law of the Sea is the establishment of specific legal regimes for certain geographic realities to which, due to their peculiar characteristics, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has given particular attention. This feature is reflected in the regulations established for islands and archipelagos, special regimes that, together with the rules laid down for drawing straight baselines, show a heterogeneous treatment of these realities according to their geographical location, so making it possible to notice the existence of differential treatment between coastal islands and archipelagos and oceanic islands and archipelagos. Conforming to the Law of the Sea, coastal archipelagos, islands, rocks, and low-tide elevations may be used by the coastal state to draw straight baselines and set the maritime spaces over which its sovereignty or jurisdiction extends (articles 4 and 11 of the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone and articles 7 and 13 of the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea). Regarding ocean islands and archipelagos, the Law of the Sea, prior to the revision made by the Third United Nations Conference, equated island coasts (isolated or forming an archipelago) to the coast of a continental state, thus enabling their maritime spaces to be drawn like that of the continental state. However, currently archipelagic states have seen the right to use the archipelagic principle recognized, and some islands have seen the possibility of enjoying the same maritime spaces as continental, archipelagic, or island states limited. Nevertheless, islands should be considered not only as territories that enjoy their own maritime spaces, but also as an important factor in maritime delimitations. Their presence often leads to different points of view between the parties involved when drafting the boundary, and this makes an equitable solution difficult. In addition, islands could be considered also as object of sovereignty disputes between states.
General Overviews on the Law of the Sea
Comprehensive works on islands and archipelagos are scarce, but it is possible to find some broad references to these subjects in general overviews on Law of the Sea. See Anand 1980; Attard, et al. 2014; Castillo 2015; Freestone, et al. 2006; Lodge and Nordquist 2014, O’Connell 1982; Rothwell and Stephens 2010; Rothwell, et al. 2015; Tanaka 2015; and (in French) Dupuy and Vignes 1985.
Anand, Ram Prakash, ed. Law of the Sea: Caracas and Beyond. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1980.
Edited when the Third Conference was being held, it offers important references to the main changes and developments introduced in the Law of the Sea. The chapter written by Mani, pp. 82–110, offers a clear analysis of the evolution of the legal regime of islands.
Attard, David Joseph, Malgosia Fitzmaurice, and Norman A. Martínez Gutiérrez, eds. The IMLI Manual of International Maritime Law. Vol. 1, The Law of the Sea. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Volume 1 of The IMLI Manual of International Maritime Law covers the Law of the Sea. There are two chapters dealing with islands and archipelagos, one by Erik Francks, “The Regime of Islands and Rocks” analyzing article 121 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the second by Arif Havas Oegroseno, “Archipelagic States: From Concept to Law” dealing with history, development, and the current regulation of the archipelagic state regime.
Castillo, Lilian del, ed. Law of the Sea, From Grotius to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: Liber Amicorum Judge Hugo Caminos. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2015.
Including a selection of current issues on the Law of the Sea, Part 6 of this book deals with islands and archipelagic states. Vincent P. Cogliati-Bantz analyzes the regime of archipelagic States, both the archipelagic baseline and archipelagic waters. Chapter 19 deals with islands and is required reading for those seeking a treatment of islands beyond the Law of the Sea. The the author’s analysis is based on the history of the islands themselves and their use by fiction writers.
Dupuy, René-Jean, and Daniel Vignes, eds. Traité du nouveau droit de la mer. Paris: Economica, 1985.
This collective work offers a good analysis of the main aspects of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea and makes particular reference to archipelagos, especially in the definition of archipelagic states, archipelagic lines, and the legal regime of archipelagic waters.
Freestone, David, Richard Barnes, and David Ong, eds. The Law of the Sea: Progress and Prospects. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299614.001.0001
Written by specialists who have spent a lifetime working with the Law of the Sea, this work has a particular value for those who wish to know about the evolution of the Law of the Sea after the 1982 United Nations Convention. We would highlight the reference to archipelagic sea lanes.
Lodge, Michael W., and Myron H. Nordquist. Peaceful Order in the World’s Oceans: Essays in Honour of Satya N. Nandam. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2014.
Pages 68–90 of this book deal with islands. Article 121 of the United Nations Conference of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is analyzed as it pertains to islands, focusing, in particular, on the Law of the Sea Convention. This paper also analyses the practice of courts and states related to the application of article 121.
O’Connell, Daniel Patrick. The International Law of the Sea. Oxford: Clarendon, 1982.
This excellent book, edited by Professor I. A. Shearer after the author’s death, is a consultation required for researchers and practitioners interested in the Law of the Sea and offers a good reference for islands and archipelagos.
Rothwell, Donald, Alex G. Oude Elferink, Karen N. Scott, and Tim Stephens, eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Law of the Sea. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
This collective work offers a comprehensive analysis of the Law of the Sea. Chapter 7 (pp. 134–158), by Tara Davenport deals with the development of the archipelagic regime and the final regulation in the United Nation Conventions of the Law of the Sea and also contains a reference to dependent archipelagos, which are not treated in the Law of the Sea Convention.
Rothwell, Donald, and Tim Stephens. The International Law of the Sea. Portland, OR: Hart, 2010.
This book takes as its focus the rules and institutions established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and places the achievements of the Convention in historical and contemporary context. The references to archipelagos are in chapter 8.
Tanaka, Yoshifumi. The International Law of the Sea. 2d ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
This book provides a general analysis of the Law of the Sea with references to islands (pp. 63–71) and archipelagos (pp. 111–119). First edition published 2012.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Act of State Doctrine
- Africa and Intellectual Property Rights for Plant Varietie...
- African Approaches to International Law
- African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the Af...
- Africa’s International Intellectual Property Law Regimes
- Africa’s International Investment Law Regimes
- Agreements, Bilateral and Regional Trade
- Agreements, Multilateral Environmental
- Aliens
- Applicable Law in Investment Agreements
- Archipelagic States
- Arctic Region
- Armed Opposition Groups
- Aut Dedere Aut Judicare
- Balance of Power
- Bandung Conference, The
- Boundaries
- British Mandate of Palestine and International Law, The
- Children's Rights
- China, Judicial Application of International Law in
- China, Law of the Sea in
- Civil Service, International
- Civil-Military Relations
- Codification
- Cold War International Law
- Collective Security
- Command Responsibility
- Common Heritage of Mankind
- Complementarity Principle
- Compliance in International Law
- Conspiracy/Joint Criminal Enterprise
- Constitutional Law, International
- Consular Relations
- Contemporary Catholic Approaches
- Continental Shelf, Idea and Limits of the
- Cooperation in Criminal Matters, Cross-Border
- Countermeasures
- Courts, International
- Crimes against Humanity
- Criminal Law, International
- Cultural Rights
- Cyber Espionage
- Cyber Warfare
- Debt, Sovereign
- Decolonization in International Law
- Democracy
- Development Law, International
- Disarmament in International Law
- Discrimination
- Disputes, Peaceful Settlement of
- Drugs, International Regulation, and Criminal Liability
- Early 19th Century, 1789-1870
- Ecological Restoration and International Law
- Economic Law, International
- Effectiveness and Evolution in Treaty Interpretation
- Enforced Disappearances in International Law
- Enforcement of Human Rights
- Environmental Compliance Mechanisms
- Environmental Institutions, International
- Environmental Law, International
- Estoppel
- European Arrest Warrant
- Exclusive Economic Zone
- Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights Treaties
- Fascism and International Law
- Feminist Approaches to International Law
- Financial Law, International
- Forceful Intervention for Protection of Human Rights in Af...
- Foreign Investment
- Fragmentation
- Freedom of Expression
- French Revolution
- Gender and International Law, Theoretical and Methodologic...
- Gender and International Security
- General Customary Law
- General Principles of Law
- Genocide
- Georgia and International Law
- Grotius, Hugo
- Habeas Corpus
- Hijaz and International Law, The
- History of International Law, 1550–1700
- Hostilities, Direct Participation in
- Human Rights
- Human Rights and Regional Protection, Relativism and Unive...
- Human Rights, China's Practices in
- Human Rights, European Court of
- Human Rights, Foundations of
- Human Rights Law, History of
- Human Trafficking
- Hybrid International Criminal Tribunals
- Immunities
- Immunity, Sovereign
- in Latin America and the Caribbean, International Legal Pr...
- Indigenous Peoples
- Individual Criminal Responsibility
- Institutional Law
- Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and Inte...
- International and Non-International Armed Conflict, Detent...
- International Committee of the Red Cross
- International Community
- International Court of Justice
- International Criminal Court, The
- International Criminal Law, Complicity in
- International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
- International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ...
- International Fisheries Law
- International Humanitarian Law
- International Humanitarian Law, China and
- International Humanitarian Law, Targeting in
- International Intellectual Property Law, China and
- International Investment Agreements, Fair and Equitable Tr...
- International Investment Arbitration
- International Investment Law, China and
- International Investment Law, Expropriation in
- International Law, Aggression in
- International Law, Amnesty and
- International Law and Economic Development
- International Law, Anthropology and
- International Law, Big Data and
- International Law, Climate Change and
- International Law, Derogations and Reservations in
- International Law, Dispute Settlement in
- International Law, Ecofeminism and
- International Law, Economic Analysis and
- International Law, Espionage in
- International Law, Hegemony in
- International Law in Cyberspace, China and
- International Law in Greek
- International Law in Italian
- International Law in Northeast Asia
- International Law in Portuguese
- International Law in Turkish
- International Law, Legitimacy in
- International Law, Marxist Approaches to
- International Law, Military Intervention in
- International Law, Money Laundering in
- International Law, Monism and Dualism in
- International Law, Peacekeeping in
- International Law, Proportionality in
- International Law, Reasonableness in
- International Law, Recognition in
- International Law, Self-Determination in
- International Law, State Responsibility in
- International Law, State Succession in
- International Law, the State in
- International Law, The Turkish-Greek Population Exchange a...
- International Law, the Turn to History in
- International Law, The United States and
- International Law, Trade and Development in
- International Law, Unequal Treaties in
- International Law, Use of Force in
- International Legal Personality
- International Regulation of the Internet
- International Relations Study in China, International Law ...
- International Rule of Law, An
- International Territorial Administration
- International Trade and Human Rights
- Intervention, Humanitarian
- Investment Protection Treaties
- Investor-State Conciliation and Mediation
- Iran and International Law
- Iraq War, Britain and the
- Islamic Cooperation, International Law and the Organizatio...
- Islamic International Law
- Islamic Law and Human Rights
- Islands
- Jerusalem
- Jurisdiction
- Jurisprudence (Judicial Law-Making)
- Jus Cogens
- Just War
- Landlocked Countries and the Law of the Sea
- Law of the Sea
- Law of Treaties, The
- Law-Making by Non-State Actors
- League of Nations, The
- Lebanon, Special Tribunal for
- Legal Pluralism
- Legal Status of Military Forces Abroad
- Liability for International Environmental Harm
- Liberation and Resistance Movements
- Mandates in International Law
- Maritime Delimitation
- Martens Clause
- Medieval International Law
- Mens Rea, International Crimes
- Middle East Boundaries and State Formation
- Migration
- Military Necessity
- Military Occupation
- Minorities
- Modes of Participation
- Most-Favored-Nation Clauses
- Multinational Corporations in International Law
- Nationality and Statelessness
- Natural Law
- Neutrality
- New Approaches to International Law
- New Haven School of International Law, The
- Non liquet
- Noninternational Armed Conflict (“Civil War”)
- Nonstate Actors
- Nuclear Non-Proliferation
- Nuremberg Trials
- Organizations, International
- Pacifism in International Law
- Palestine (and the Israel Question)
- Peace Treaties
- Piracy
- Political Science, International Law and
- Positivism
- Private Military and Security Companies
- Protection, Diplomatic
- Public Interest, Human Rights, and Foreign Investment
- Queering International Law
- Rational Choice Theory
- Recognition of Foreign Penal Judgments
- Refugee Law, China and
- Refugees
- Rendition, Extraterritorial Abduction, and Extraordinary R...
- Reparations
- Russian Approaches to International Law
- Sanctions, International
- Sanctions, International
- Secession
- Self-Defense
- Slavery
- Soft Law
- Space Law
- Spanish School of International Law (c. 16th and 17th Cent...
- Sports Law, International
- State of Necessity
- Superior Orders
- Taba Arbitration, The
- Teaching International Law
- Territorial Title
- Terrorism
- The 1948 Arab-Israeli Conflict and International Law
- The Ottoman Empire and International Law
- Theory, Critical International Legal
- Tibet
- Tokyo Trials, The
- Torture
- Transnational Constitutionalism, Africa and
- Transnational Corruption
- Treaty Interpretation
- Ukrainian Approaches
- UN Partition Plan for Palestine and International Law, The
- UN Security Council, Women and the
- Underwater Cultural Heritage
- Unilateral Acts
- United Nations and its Principal Organs, The
- Universal Jurisdiction
- Uti Possidetis Iuris
- Vatican and the Holy See
- Victims’ Rights, International Criminal Law, and Proceedin...
- War Crimes
- Watercourses, International
- Western Sahara
- World Trade Organization Law, China and