Hi Douglas, thanks very much for this really informative guide on UNCLOS. As I understand it, UNCLOS makes a distinction between an “island” and a “rock” in terms of the rights that the state to which the “island” or “rock” belongs enjoys. I note article 121(3) of UNCLOS reading: “Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.“ Does a “rock” under the sovereignty of a particular state nonetheless confer on that state an entitlement to 12 nautical miles of territorial sea? Thanks for any thoughts on this or if you’ve already made a video that addresses it, grateful for a pointer to it.
Hi Douglas, thanks very much for this really informative guide on UNCLOS.
As I understand it, UNCLOS makes a distinction between an “island” and a “rock” in terms of the rights that the state to which the “island” or “rock” belongs enjoys. I note article 121(3) of UNCLOS reading: “Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.“
Does a “rock” under the sovereignty of a particular state nonetheless confer on that state an entitlement to 12 nautical miles of territorial sea? Thanks for any thoughts on this or if you’ve already made a video that addresses it, grateful for a pointer to it.
Yes it does, as long as it's a rock and not a low tide elevation. Kindly check the video "Regime of Islands".