Chapter 5
Jurisdictional Intersections Between
the Continental Shelf and Other Maritime
Spaces: Exclusive Economic Zone, High
Seas and the Area
The emergence of the outer continental shelf has brought along difficulties regarding
the interaction between regimes governing other maritime areas, in particular the
EEZ, the high seas and the Area. For instance, it is relevant to assess the extent to
which the coastal state may exercise rights over the water column above the
continental shelf, having in mind that those superjacent waters enjoy the legal status
of high seas. Also, to determine what rules overlap in the seafloor between the outer
continental shelf and the Area and how does UNCLOS fend off possible jurisdictional conflicts therein. Those are intriguing questions, the answers to which shall
level the ground for the discussion on coastal state environmental jurisdiction over
the continental shelf.
Each of the zones mentioned supra owns a particular set of rules that defines their
legal statuses, the rights and duties exercisable in each, apart from other relevant
provisions, both for coastal states and the international community at large. In order
to understand the specificities of the continental shelf regime, one must grasp the
ways in which UNCLOS has provided for a coherent intersection between differing
but overlapping maritime spaces, so that these crossings between maritime zones do
not challenge the overall stability and cohesion of the Treaty.
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
V. Alencar Mayer Feitosa Ventura, Environmental Jurisdiction in the Law of the Sea,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50543-1_5
109
Jurisdictional Intersections Between
the Continental Shelf and Other Maritime
Spaces: Exclusive Economic Zone, High
Seas and the Area
The emergence of the outer continental shelf has brought along difficulties regarding
the interaction between regimes governing other maritime areas, in particular the
EEZ, the high seas and the Area. For instance, it is relevant to assess the extent to
which the coastal state may exercise rights over the water column above the
continental shelf, having in mind that those superjacent waters enjoy the legal status
of high seas. Also, to determine what rules overlap in the seafloor between the outer
continental shelf and the Area and how does UNCLOS fend off possible jurisdictional conflicts therein. Those are intriguing questions, the answers to which shall
level the ground for the discussion on coastal state environmental jurisdiction over
the continental shelf.
Each of the zones mentioned supra owns a particular set of rules that defines their
legal statuses, the rights and duties exercisable in each, apart from other relevant
provisions, both for coastal states and the international community at large. In order
to understand the specificities of the continental shelf regime, one must grasp the
ways in which UNCLOS has provided for a coherent intersection between differing
but overlapping maritime spaces, so that these crossings between maritime zones do
not challenge the overall stability and cohesion of the Treaty.
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
V. Alencar Mayer Feitosa Ventura, Environmental Jurisdiction in the Law of the Sea,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50543-1_5
109