451 



own territorial sea is less." 13 The implication of this observation is 

 that the three-mile limit is the acceptable conventional breadth, 

 that a "contiguous zone" to twelve miles was within the confines of 

 international law. Although this implication does not constitute a 

 precise definition, the guidelines provided in the Commission Report 

 are generally considered the primary basis for recognizing any given 

 breadth of the territorial sea as an international norm. 



In 1958, representatives of 86 nations convened in Geneva to partici- 

 pate in the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. They 

 used the reports drafted previously by the International Law Commis- 

 sion as a basis for their deliberations, and the Conference resulted in 

 four conventions approved by the U.X. General Assembly: 



(1) Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous 

 Zone; 



(2) Convention on the Continental Shelf; 



(3) Convention on the High Seas; and 



(4) Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Re- 

 sources of the High Sea. 



This study deals with only those conventions that reflect upon the 

 zonation and the definition of the continental shelf limits. 



The Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone 

 established criteria for a baseline at the low-water line, the landward 

 side of which is the "inland waters" and the seaward side the terri- 

 torial sea. The outer limit of the territorial sea was defined descrip- 

 tively relative to the baseline, but no figures were given to establish its 

 breadth. The contiguous zone Avas defined as a zone of the high seas 

 contiguous to the territorial sea of a coastal state, where the state may 

 exercise control in such functions as customs, immigration, and sani- 

 tary regulation. "The contiguous zone may not extend beyond twelve 

 miles from the baseline from which the breadth of a territorial sea is 

 measured." (Article 24.2) 



The Convention on the Continental Shelf (Article 1) defined the 

 shelf as referring " (a) to the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas 

 adjacent to the coast but outside the area of the territorial sea, to a 

 depth of 200 meters or, beyond that limit, to where the depth of the 

 superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the natural resources 

 of the said areas * * *. 14 



Deficiencies of the Geneva Conventions 



The 1958 Conference on the Law of the Sea was followed by another 

 one in 1960. Both failed to delineate the outer limits of the continental 

 shelf. The Convention on the Continental Shelf went into effect in 1964, 

 subject to review and revision in five years after that date. It served 

 to crystallize international law after a fashion, but had three major 

 shortcomings : 



First, the Convention failed to delineate the territorial sea, which 

 left the matter to the discretion of the individual states and resulted in 



u The natural resources of the continental shelf were defined In Article 2 to Include 

 "the mineral and other non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil together with living 

 organisms belonging to sedentary species, that Is to say, organisms which, at the harvest- 

 able stage, either are immobile on or under the seabed or are unable to move except in 

 constant physical contact with the seabed or subsoil." The problems caused bv this defini- 

 tion will be discussed further in the section on the resources of the continental shelf. 



