(1812010131)
Abstract: The territorial sea is subordinate to national sovereignty and is an extension of the rights of national territory on the sea. As a Pacific island nation with a sea area far larger than a land area, Kiribati has the world's largest marine protected area and a vast marine exclusive economic zone, and its maritime sovereignty is even more important.
I. Archipelago baseline
These archipelagic States are addressed in the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, as stated in article 46 (a), which provides that "archipelagic States" means "a national island consisting entirely of one or more States and may include other islands". An "archipelago" is defined as "a group of islands comprising parts of the islands, interconnected waters and other natural features so closely related that they constitute an inherent geographical, economic and political entity, or are historically regarded as such an entity" (Article 46(b)).
Standards that must be followed in the delineation of the islands' baselines (annex 4 to the present study). According to article 47 (1), "the length of such baselines shall not exceed one hundred nautical miles. provided, however, that the total number of baselines surrounding any archipelago may exceed that length up to a maximum of one hundred and twenty-five nautical miles: "The archipelago State may draw straight archipelago baselines connecting the outermost points of the outermost islands of the archipelago and the coral reefs of the dry archipelago, but these baselines include areas between 1 and 1 and 9 to 1 of the ratio of the main islands and waters to the land area, including atolls."
In addition, the length of any baseline segment shall not exceed 100 nautical miles, but up to 3 per cent of the total baseline length may be up to 125M (Article 47(2)). Other provisions of article 47 provide that such baselines shall not be at any significant distance from the general structure of the archipelago; Except in the exceptions noted, low-tide elevations should not be used to delineate such baselines; Moreover, such a baseline system should not be applied in such a way as to cut off the territorial sea of another State's high seas or exclusive economic zone (arts. 47 (3) to 47 (5)).
Article 48 provides that the width of the territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf shall be measured from the base of the archipelago delimited in accordance with article 47. Article 49 provides that the waters enclosed by the baselines of the archipelago delimited in accordance with article 47 are archipelagic waters and that the sovereignty of the archipelagic States extends to those waters, subject to the provisions of Part IV of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Convention further reflects the specific rights and obligations of archipelagic States over their land and water territory. Article 53 allows archipelagic States to "designate sea lanes" In addition, article 53 (12) provides that archipelagic States do not designate sea lanes. The right of passage through archipelagic sea lanes may be exercised by routes normally used for international navigation. ”
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, "the length of such baselines shall not exceed one hundred nautical miles. provided, however, that the total number of baselines surrounding any archipelago may exceed that length at most, up to a maximum of 125 nautical miles", and Kiribati has therefore established an archipelago baseline system around the Kiribati Islands Regulations 2014 (the Archipelago Baseline Regulations), consisting of two archipelago archipelagos within the Gilbert Islands. The archipelago baseline system is a combination of a normal baseline (low waterline) and a straight line archipelago baseline segment (?). ）。 Archipelago 1 consists of 58 baseline points and 10 baseline segments, surrounded by atolls and islands such as Makin, Butaritari, Marakei, Abaiang, Tarawa, Maiana, Kuria, Abemama and Aranuka. Archipelago 2 consists of 55 baseline points and 4 baseline segments, surrounded by Nonouti, Tabiteuea, Beru and Onotoa. The baseline section of Archipelago 1 is 12.5 nautical miles to 86.1 nautical miles long, for a total length of 428.1 nautical miles. The baseline section of Archipelago 2 is 39.8 nautical miles to 99.2 nautical miles long, with a total length of 237.8 nautical miles.
Baselines around the Kiribati Islands
(i) Closed lines/reefs
Kiribati's Closure of Lines Regulations 2014 provides for islands (including atolls) within Gilbert (Butaritari, Marakei, Tarawa, Maiana, Abemama, Aranuka, Nonouti, Tabituea and Onotoa), Kanton and Line Group (Tabuaeran [Fanning], Kiritimati [Christmas Island]) Geographical coordinates of the 21 closed lines]) reef closure line, enclosing the waters within the lagoon as internal waters.
(ii) Normal baseline/coral reef
For the 20 islands not included in the archipelago's baseline, Kiribati's Territorial Sea Baseline Regulations 2014 (Territorial Sea Baselines Regulations) provide for the geographic coordinates of the baseline points. These regulations include the Gill Group (Banaba and Nikunau, Tamana and the Gilbert Islands of Arorae), the Phoenix Group (Nikumaroro, McKean, Kanton, Enderbury, Birnie, Rawaki, Manra and Orona) (Teraina, Tabuaeran [Fanning], Kiritimati [Christmas Island]), Malden, Starbuck, Vostok, Caroline and Flint).
Illustrated map of Kiribati's archipelago baseline claimed by its Gilbert Group Map 1
Image 1 Source: LIS-146-Kiribati, Limits in the sea
The issue of maritime boundaries in Kiribati
(1) Delimitation of borders with countries
Kiribati has maritime borders with the Cook Islands (New Zealand), the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand (Tokelau), Tuvalu, France (French Polynesia) and the United States. There is a tripartite agreement between Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Nauru.
It emerged that Kiribati had concluded maritime boundary agreements with all its neighbours. The maritime boundary of Kiribati is shown on map 1. The maritime boundary agreement concluded in 2012 between Kiribati and the Cook Islands (New Zealand) establishes the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf boundary on an equidistant basis, a boundary separated maritime area consisting of geodesics connecting 14 points, generated by Starbucks, Vostok and Flint in Kiribati and Penrhyn in the Cook Islands. The 2012 maritime boundary agreement between Kiribati and the Marshall Islands establishes an exclusive economic zone consisting of geodesic lines and a line connecting 24 points on the boundary of the continental shelf on an equidistant basis. The border separates Banaba, Markin and Butari in Gilbert, Kiribati, and Ebon and Knox in the Marshall Islands.
The 2012 maritime boundary agreement between Kiribati and Nauru establishes the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf boundary on an equidistant basis, consisting of geodesic lines connecting 16 points separating Banaba's Gilbert Group in Kiribati and the maritime area formed on the island of Nauru.
The maritime boundary agreement between Kiribati and New Zealand on Tokelau, signed in 2012, establishes a geodesic connecting five points between the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf boundary on an equidistant basis. The boundary will create a sea area separating the three islands of Phoenix (Nikumaroro, Manra and Orona) in Kiribati and Tokelau.
The 201 maritime boundary agreement between Kiribati and Tuvalu establishes an exclusive economic zone and an equidistant continental shelf boundary. The boundary consists of 20 points connected by geodesics. The boundary separates the waters produced by Kiribati from the Tabiteuea, Tamana and Arorae archipelagos and the Tuvalu archipelago of Nanumea and Niutao.
The agreement on the maritime boundaries of French Polynesia, concluded between Kiribati and France in 2012, establishes the boundaries of the exclusive economic zone on the basis of equal distance. The boundary consists of six points connected by geodesics. The boundary separates the exclusive economic zone formed by the islands of Flint and Caroline in Kiribati and the islands of Motu, Tupai, Matawa and Aher in French Polynesia.
Kiribati's maritime boundary agreement with the United States, concluded in 2012, is based on three equidistant exclusive economic zones and continental shelf boundaries. For the boundary line, between the Phoenix Formation of Baker Island (United States) and Kiribati, the six points are connected by geodesic lines. For the dividing line between the line group of Jarvis Island and Kiribati in the United States, ten points are connected by geodesics. The U.S. line group of Palmyra Atoll with Kingman Reef and Kiribati connects five points by geodesics.
(2) Conclusion
Kiribati's archipelago baseline system, which encloses the two archipelagos within its Gilbert, is also consistent with the specific provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (art. 47, para. 6, "If part of the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic State lies between two parts of a directly adjacent State, the existing rights and all other legitimate interests traditionally exercised by that neighbouring State in that waters, as well as all rights provided for in agreements between the two States, shall continue and be respected"). Kiribati's legislative provisions relating to its maritime zones, including navigational provisions, are equally consistent with international law as reflected in UNCLOS.
Schematic map of maritime boundaries and boundaries claimed by Kiribati Map 2
4. Kiribati's maritime claims and maritime territorial issues
The Republic of Kiribati, abbreviated as Kiribati, is a Pacific island country. The land area is 811 square kilometers, and the area of the marine exclusive economic zone is 3.5 million square kilometers. Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the country consists of 33 large and small islands (21 of which have permanent residents), which are divided into three archipelagos: the Gilbert Islands, the Phoenix Islands and the Lane Islands. From Christmas Island in the east to Banaba Island in the west, it is spread over 3,800 kilometers above the equator and has the world's largest marine protected area.
Maritime territory includes territorial waters, contiguous zones, exclusive economic zones, continental shelves, etc. A maritime territory is part of the territory of a country. As an island country, Kiribati also has its own relatively clear regulations on maritime claims on its maritime territory.
(1) Marine claims
Sections 5 and 7 of the 2011 Act provide that the waters of the Kiribati Islands include the waters enclosed by the baselines of the archipelago and the internal waters of Kiribati include the waters of the normal baseline to the land side, including any closed line.
In 2014, Kiribati enacted regulations that set out geographical indicators describing the outer limits of its territorial sea, contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. The Regulation uses arc-shaped dense points to delineate the outer limits of these maritime areas with geodesic lines. In addition to the outer limits formed by maritime boundaries with neighbouring countries, the distance between arc densification points along the limits of the coastal, contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone is about 0.21 nautical miles, 0.31 nautical miles and 0.87 nautical miles, respectively.
(2) Territorial waters
The territorial sea of Kiribati includes waters whose inner limit is the baseline of Kiribati and its outer limit is a line from the baseline, each point 12 nautical miles from the nearest point of the baseline. Subject to paragraph (3), Kiribati has sovereignty over its land territory and internal waters of its territorial sea and over its territorial sea and over the seabed and subsoil beneath it. Ships of all States have the right of innocent passage in Kiribati's territorial waters in accordance with international law.
(iii) Adjacent
The waters beyond the territorial sea referred to in section 6, but within twenty-four (24) nautical miles from the baseline of Kiribati, shall be the contiguous zone of the Republic of Kiribati. Within the contiguous zone and in the airspace above it, Kiribati has the right to exercise all powers deemed necessary to prevent breaches of any fiscal laws or any customs, health and immigration laws.
(d) Exclusive economic zones
Subject to paragraph (2), waters outside the territorial sea of Kiribati but 200 nautical miles from the baseline of Kiribati shall be the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Kiribati. If the agreement between the Republic of Kiribati and the opposite or adjacent coastal State provides for the delimitation of the boundaries of the exclusive economic zone, the relevant area of the exclusive economic zone shall be delimited in accordance with that agreement. Exercise of sovereign rights (1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Republic of Kiribati exercises, within its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf: (a) sovereignty over the exploration and exploitation, conservation and management of natural resources, whether living or non-living, of the seabed and subsoil and waters on the seabed, as well as other activities for economic exploration and exploitation.
(5) The continental shelf
Sections 6, 8 and 9 of the 2011 Act provide for Kiribati's territorial sea of 12 nautical miles, a contiguous zone of 24 nautical miles and a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, respectively. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention on Terrestrial Observing Systems, the width of these areas is measured from the baseline of Kiribati. In accordance with article 76 of the Outer Space Convention, section 10 of the 2011 Decree provides that the continental shelf of Kiribati extends to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baseline, to which the outer edge of the continental margin does not.
Upon entry into force of an agreement concluded between the Republic of Kiribati and another or adjacent coastal State for the delimitation of the limits of the continental shelf, the relevant continental shelf area of the Republic of Kiribati shall be delimited in accordance with that agreement and, subject to paragraph (2), the continental shelf of the Republic of Kiribati shall include the seabed and subsoil of the seabed area throughout the natural extension of the land territory of the Republic of Kiribati: (a) to the outer edge of the continental margin; or, (b) two hundred (200) nautical miles from the baseline, at which the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend; When an agreement concluded between the Republic of Kiribati and another or adjacent coastal State for the delimitation of the continental shelf enters into force, the relevant continental shelf area of the Republic of Kiribati shall be delimited in accordance with that agreement.
Schematic diagram of the delimitation of the extended continental shelf of Kiribati