Land and Sea: Two Sovereignty Regimes In Search of a Common Denominator

Abstract

The coastal State has inherent and primordial rights over the continental shelf, which, unlike other rights of a territorial nature, are not susceptible of being subverted by any of the recognized legal means, such as prescription .... No adverse interest is capable of derogating in any way from these rights. The international legal regimes for allocation of sovereign rights to land and water areas are fundamentally different, both substantively and procedurally. As a substantive matter, rights to land territory are acquired by the fact of physical possession while rights to maritime areas are acquired by operation of law in accordance with "equitable" rules. Procedurally, jurisdiction over disputes to land territory is available only with the consent of the disputing states, while jurisdiction over disputes to maritime areas is essentially mandatory.