Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in the Asia Pacific Region and its adaptation to maritime security issues in the Arctic Region; Part III
International LawBy LJ Howard, 29 June, 2021
RAUSI Research Brief Volume 2, Issue 3
Competing claims to jurisdiction and sovereign interests in the Arctic raise complex legal questions concerning the law of the sea. They include e.g., freedom of navigation in waters whose navigable surface alters with effects of climate change, delimitation of continental shelves beyond 200 NM and exclusive economic zones, and the nature of right of innocent passage through territorial waters. The right to self-defence through national sea, land and air measures may exceed real capacity to effect such defence, thus invoking defence treaty regimes. Complexity compounds as competing states hold different interpretations of treaty law and customary norms. This paper briefly ‘christens the ground, sea and sea-bed’ in legal terms before its successor papers address specific issues.