Chapter 8
A Critique Against the Concept
of Mid-Ocean Archipelago
Yurika Ishii
8.1 Introduction
The modern maritime system is based on a zonal approach, where the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea
1 (UNCLOS) defines the maritime zones that may
be claimed by the coastal states, stipulates how zones are to be delimited and sets
out the respective rights and obligations of coastal other states therein. Controversies
seem to remain whether international law recognizes the maritime jurisdiction that
is not specified under UNCLOS.
One of those problems incurred by such an alleged ambiguity is whether a state
may draw a baseline around “mid-ocean archipelago” under international law which
is an archipelago. It is an archipelago which does not satisfy the geographic conditions provided either under Article 7 or Article 47 of UNCLOS. This concept is
occasionally referred to as “outlying archipelago” or “off-shore archipelago.” There
is no meaningful difference among these terms. This chapter mainly uses the term
“mid-ocean archipelago,” but it will also use the other terms interchangeably when it
cites other scholarly papers. The purpose of this chapter is to examine whether such
“mid-ocean archipelago” is recognized under international law.
Before the main discussion, a brief examination of concepts that are pertinent to
the current problem is necessary.
1 United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea, adopted on 10 December 1982, entered into
force on 16 November 1994, 1833 UNTS 3.
This research was financially supported by JSPS 18K01290. A part of contents of this chapter has
been published in a Japanese report, Japan Institute of International Affairs (2019).
Y. Ishii (B)
National Defense Academy of Japan, Yokosuka, Japan
e-mail: eureka@nda.ac.jp
© Kobe University 2021
D. Tamada and K. Zou (eds.), Implementation of the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea, Kobe University Monograph Series in Social Science Research,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6954-2_8
133
A Critique Against the Concept
of Mid-Ocean Archipelago
Yurika Ishii
8.1 Introduction
The modern maritime system is based on a zonal approach, where the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea
1 (UNCLOS) defines the maritime zones that may
be claimed by the coastal states, stipulates how zones are to be delimited and sets
out the respective rights and obligations of coastal other states therein. Controversies
seem to remain whether international law recognizes the maritime jurisdiction that
is not specified under UNCLOS.
One of those problems incurred by such an alleged ambiguity is whether a state
may draw a baseline around “mid-ocean archipelago” under international law which
is an archipelago. It is an archipelago which does not satisfy the geographic conditions provided either under Article 7 or Article 47 of UNCLOS. This concept is
occasionally referred to as “outlying archipelago” or “off-shore archipelago.” There
is no meaningful difference among these terms. This chapter mainly uses the term
“mid-ocean archipelago,” but it will also use the other terms interchangeably when it
cites other scholarly papers. The purpose of this chapter is to examine whether such
“mid-ocean archipelago” is recognized under international law.
Before the main discussion, a brief examination of concepts that are pertinent to
the current problem is necessary.
1 United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea, adopted on 10 December 1982, entered into
force on 16 November 1994, 1833 UNTS 3.
This research was financially supported by JSPS 18K01290. A part of contents of this chapter has
been published in a Japanese report, Japan Institute of International Affairs (2019).
Y. Ishii (B)
National Defense Academy of Japan, Yokosuka, Japan
e-mail: eureka@nda.ac.jp
© Kobe University 2021
D. Tamada and K. Zou (eds.), Implementation of the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea, Kobe University Monograph Series in Social Science Research,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6954-2_8
133