Innocent passage is a concept in the
law of the sea that allows for a vessel to pass through the archipelagic and
territorial waters
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 potenti ...
of another state, subject to certain restrictions. The
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...
Article 19 defines innocent passage as:
Innocent passage concedes the coastal country's territorial sea claim, unlike
freedom of navigation
Freedom of navigation (FON) is a principle of law of the sea that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states, apart from the exceptions provided for in international law. In the realm of internat ...
, which directly contests it.
The law was codified in 1958 and affirmed in 1982.
See also
*
1986 Black Sea incident
*
1988 Black Sea bumping incident
*
Corfu Channel incident
The Corfu Channel Incident consists of three separate events involving Royal Navy ships in the Channel of Corfu which took place in 1946, and it is considered an early episode of the Cold War.
*
Right of passage Right of passage, in international law, means (approximately) a country's right for its ships to pass through the territorial seas of foreign states and straits used for international navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on th ...
*
Transit passage
Transit passage is a concept of the law of the sea, which allows a vessel or aircraft the freedom of navigation or overflight solely for the purpose of continuous and expeditious transit of a strait between one part of the high seas or exclusive ...
References
External links
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Part II Section 3 defines "innocent passage"
* Spadi, F. (2001),
The Bridge on the Strait of Messina: 'Lowering' the Right of Innocent Passage?, ''
International and Comparative Law Quarterly
The ''International & Comparative Law Quarterly'' is a law review published quarterly by thBritish Institute of International and Comparative Law It was established in 1952 and covers comparative law as well as public and private international la ...
'', 50: 411–419.
Law of the sea
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