The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 is a

statutory instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrument ...

of the United Kingdom government, defining the boundaries of internal waters, territorial sea, and British Fishing Limits adjacent to Scotland. It was introduced in accordance with the Scotland Act 1998, which established the devolved

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

Defining jurisdictions

The territorial waters defined come under the jurisdiction of

Scots law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...

, and are also used for defining the area of operation of the Scottish Government (including Marine Scotland), SEPA, and other Scottish Government agencies and public bodies. The territorial waters defined as ''not'' being Scottish waters come under the jurisdiction of either

English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...

or Northern Ireland law. Because the order defines the territorial limits of the three separate jurisdictions, it comprises a piece of constitutional law in the constitution of the United Kingdom.

Scottish waters

Scottish waters is a colloquial term which can refer to different sea areas, including: * Internal waters and territorial sea adjacent to Scotland. ("Scotland" as defined in the Scotland Act 1998) * British Fishing Limits adjacent to Scotland. ("The Scottish Zone" as defined in the Scotland Act 1998) * The UK continental shelf limits adjacent to Scotland. (Part of the "Scottish offshore marine region" as defined in the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009)

Differences with existing boundaries

The maritime boundary adopted by the order is an equidistant boundary. This differed from the boundary established by the Civil Jurisdiction (Offshore Activities) Act 1987 which defined a straight line border between Scotland and England in the North Sea along the latitude of 55° 50' 00"N. As a result, some oil fields previously subject to Scots civil law were transferred to English jurisdiction. Professor Alex Kemp of the University of Aberdeen argued that the movement of the line did not make much difference from an economic perspective, "because heseare just a handful of fields, and

o longer O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...

very important ones".

Potential implications for Scottish independence

The

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

opposed the order and the methods used to calculate the boundary in the North Sea. In 2015, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment, Richard Lochhead, wrote to the UK Government requesting a review of the order. In 2001, Mahdi Zahraa of Glasgow Caledonian University, published a discussion paper in the ''European Journal of International Law'' detailing different methods of establishing an Anglo-Scottish marine boundary. The author suggests that a perpendicular boundary, derived from a new straight baseline on the east coast of Scotland and England, combined with an area of shared jurisdiction, would be the most equitable solution. Supporters of

Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. S ...

such as Craig Murray have also argued for a perpendicular boundary based on a straight baseline.{{cite web, url=https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2017/01/scotlands-stolen-seas-technical-explanation/, accessdate=2021-01-06, title=Scotland's Stolen Seas: The Technical Explanation , website=craigmurray.org.uk

References

External links

The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999Map
of the boundary defined in the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999

of debate regarding the Order in the