Suchergebnisse

On April 28, 1983, the Soviet Union became the first maritime country of consequence and the largest sea power signatory to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to enact legislation implementing the provisions of that instrument regulating the innocent passage of foreign warships. The stature of the Soviet Union within the framework of the Convention and the policy changes embodied in the 1983 legislation confer a special importance on these new Rules, whose text and interpretation will become a standard emulated by other countries. The present article examines the text of the Rules against the background of previous Soviet legislation, the 1982 Convention and its negotiating history, and the application of the Rules.

Article 234 of UNCLOS is in many ways exceptional, but it is not unique in the sense that it grants to the coastal state "complete" legislative power. Arguably, "complete" coastal state jurisdiction exists in the territorial sea for the purposes enumerated in Article 21(1), allowing coastal states to adopt ship reporting systems, pilotage, and other routing measures unilaterally. The analysis of state practice reveals that states often decide to engage the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in different ways, even when such a course of action is not mandatory. This article advocates for meaningful deliberation as both a suitable method of meeting Article 234's due regard standard, and a practice that can be expected from a steward.