The Legal Status of Historic Waters in the Law of the Sea

چکیده مقاله

The doctrine of historic waters was introduced in the early twentieth century in international law of the sea. After more than a century of its implementation in between states, the doctrine is now witnessing progress. Regulations of the Conventions on the Territorial Sea and the contiguous zone as well as the Convention on the Law of the sea, do not address the matter of historic waters. However, in today’s international law, a large number of states are seeking to expand their jurisdictional ambit based on the doctrine of historic waters. But the lack of clear and specific rules concerning the issue at hand, has led to differences on an international level. The fundamental question in this regard is that how the concept of historic waters fits in the international law of the sea? Conducted studies seem to indicate that if the claimant state’s continued sovereignty over historic waters has been sustained within a lengthy duration in comparison to its jurisdiction over the State’s internal waters, and provided that other states do not object the mentioned sovereignty, the claimed zone will be considered as the Claimant State’s internal waters. Furthermore, the same rule also applies in the case of historic waters and territorial sea.