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 instrumen ...

of the United Kingdom government, defining the boundaries of internal waters,

territorial sea The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and pote ...

, 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 devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of the capital ...

Defining jurisdictions

The territorial waters defined come under the jurisdiction of Scots law, and are also used for defining the area of operation of the Scottish Government (including

Marine Scotland The Marine Scotland Directorate ( gd, Cùisean Mara na h-Alba) is a directorate of the Scottish Government. Marine Scotland manages Scotland's seas and freshwater fisheries along with delivery partners NatureScot and the Scottish Environmen ...

), SEPA, and other Scottish Government agencies and

public bodies A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in so ...

. The territorial waters defined as ''not'' being Scottish waters come under the jurisdiction of either English law or Northern Ireland law. Because the order defines the territorial limits of the three separate jurisdictions, it comprises a piece of

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in feder ...

in the

constitution of the United Kingdom The constitution of the United Kingdom or British constitution comprises the written and unwritten arrangements that establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a political body. Unlike in most countries, no attemp ...

Scottish waters

Scottish waters is a colloquial term which can refer to different sea areas, including: * Internal waters and

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 The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (c 23) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates "a new system of marine management". The Marine Management Organisation Section 1(1) creates the Marine Management Organisation. Sect ...

)

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 , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

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 longervery important ones".

Potential implications for Scottish independence

The Scottish National Party 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 Glasgow Caledonian University ( gd, Oilthigh Chailleannach Ghlaschu, ), informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley, is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and G ...

, 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 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