The last Presidential Decree, No. 18-96 of 20th March 2018, establishes an EEZ
along the country’s coastline. There had previously been a fishing zone beyond the
territorial waters with a width of 32 nm from the western border at Ras Tenes and
52 nm from Ras Tenes at the eastern border. It is assumed to have been subsumed by
the EEZ, since Decree 18-96 takes into consideration the decree that created this
zone. Its width has not been explicitly stated but its coordinates were published in the
Decree’s annex. According to the SHOM (the French Naval Hydrographic and
Oceanographic Service) map projection, the outer boundary of the EEZ is much
wider in the direction of the Balearic Islands, and Sardinia. There is no reference to
the continental shelf in the Algerian legislation, perhaps due to its narrowness and
the little importance that it has. This said, Algeria enjoys full rights according to what
is stipulated in UNCLOS.
It is useful to point out that the Algerian legislator has not revealed the method by
which it delimited its TS and EEZ with neighbouring States, except that in the case
of the latter, it published the fact that it had been created and gave its geographical
coordinates.
It should be highlighted that, as in the case of Morocco, the term ‘territorial
waters’ is used to refer to the territorial sea. The latter term only appears in the
Presidential Decree of 2004.
2.3.2.4 Gibraltar Legislation
The last State to be presented in this part is none other than the United Kingdom,
which is involved in the Alboran Sea by way of its colony of Gibraltar. The only
legislative document that has invoked the territorial sea is the Law of the Protection
of Nature (Act 1991-11). It should be pointed out that what is being referred to here
is not an article or a paragraph or even a fragment of this Law, but the definition of an
abbreviation in Article 2, entitled interpretation and application, in which the
legislator provides definitions of the terms used in the Law. This reads: ‘BGTW’
means British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, which is the area of sea, the sea bed and
subsoil within the seaward limits of the territorial sea adjacent to Gibraltar under
British sovereignty and which, in accordance with the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea 1982, currently extends to 3 nautical miles and to the median
line in the Bay of Gibraltar. The part concerned by the Alboran Sea has a territorial
sea of 3 nm width.
2.3.3 Maritime Borders and Disputes
Addressing borders and the conflicts inherent in them entails the involvement of
three States in a historical conflict. The only State that is not involved in the Alboran
dispute is Algeria, which has no agreement with Morocco as to a delimitation of the
2 Regional Context and Maritime Governance
21
along the country’s coastline. There had previously been a fishing zone beyond the
territorial waters with a width of 32 nm from the western border at Ras Tenes and
52 nm from Ras Tenes at the eastern border. It is assumed to have been subsumed by
the EEZ, since Decree 18-96 takes into consideration the decree that created this
zone. Its width has not been explicitly stated but its coordinates were published in the
Decree’s annex. According to the SHOM (the French Naval Hydrographic and
Oceanographic Service) map projection, the outer boundary of the EEZ is much
wider in the direction of the Balearic Islands, and Sardinia. There is no reference to
the continental shelf in the Algerian legislation, perhaps due to its narrowness and
the little importance that it has. This said, Algeria enjoys full rights according to what
is stipulated in UNCLOS.
It is useful to point out that the Algerian legislator has not revealed the method by
which it delimited its TS and EEZ with neighbouring States, except that in the case
of the latter, it published the fact that it had been created and gave its geographical
coordinates.
It should be highlighted that, as in the case of Morocco, the term ‘territorial
waters’ is used to refer to the territorial sea. The latter term only appears in the
Presidential Decree of 2004.
2.3.2.4 Gibraltar Legislation
The last State to be presented in this part is none other than the United Kingdom,
which is involved in the Alboran Sea by way of its colony of Gibraltar. The only
legislative document that has invoked the territorial sea is the Law of the Protection
of Nature (Act 1991-11). It should be pointed out that what is being referred to here
is not an article or a paragraph or even a fragment of this Law, but the definition of an
abbreviation in Article 2, entitled interpretation and application, in which the
legislator provides definitions of the terms used in the Law. This reads: ‘BGTW’
means British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, which is the area of sea, the sea bed and
subsoil within the seaward limits of the territorial sea adjacent to Gibraltar under
British sovereignty and which, in accordance with the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea 1982, currently extends to 3 nautical miles and to the median
line in the Bay of Gibraltar. The part concerned by the Alboran Sea has a territorial
sea of 3 nm width.
2.3.3 Maritime Borders and Disputes
Addressing borders and the conflicts inherent in them entails the involvement of
three States in a historical conflict. The only State that is not involved in the Alboran
dispute is Algeria, which has no agreement with Morocco as to a delimitation of the
2 Regional Context and Maritime Governance
21