Assess the compatibility between the regulations of vietnamese laws and the 1982 convention on the law of the sea on defining the baselines for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 3 ESSAY CONTENT 3 I The concept of the baseline 3 II Method of determining the baseline in accordance with the provisions of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention 4 1 The usual.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

After the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention was promulgated, it was a

"Constitution" of the international community on the sea, of particular legal importance in international life With 320 terms, 19 parts, 9 annexes attached For the first time in history, the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention provides for the overall and detailed provisions on the peaceful use of the sea and ocean One of the particularly important contents stipulated in the 1982 Law of the Sea

Convention is the determination of the baseline because it is a milestone, one of the basis for stipulating the scope of the different seas belonging to a country as well as the legal basis for States to plan the waters under sovereignty or

sovereign sovereignty Family at sea Thus, a country's baseline (at sea) is of equal importance to its land borders and has an influence on the sovereignty and interests of others

In order to better understand the compatibility between the provisions of Vietnamese law and the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention on the determination of the baseline for measuring territorial sea width, I would like to write a

dissertation on " Assess the compatibility between the regulations of Vietnamese laws and the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea on defining the baselines for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea."

I would like to sincerely thank you!

ESSAY CONTENT

I The concept of the baseline.

Currently, when the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention was in force for more than 20 years and was adhered to by most countries of the world to comply with the definition of "baseline" has not been mentioned correctly In some

provisions of the Convention, the definition of the baseline is integrated only in the relevant laws, according to which in Article 3 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention when referring to the determination of the width of the territorial sea stipulates: "Every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea

up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles, measured from baselines

determined in accordance with this Convention." Or such as: "Except where otherwise provided in this Convention, the normal baseline for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea is the low-water line along the coast as marked on large-scale charts officially recognized by the coastal State1"; and " In localities where the coastline is deeply indented and cut into, or if there is a fringe of islands along the coast in its immediate vicinity, the method of straight baselines joining appropriate points may be employed in drawing the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured."2

Thus, although the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention does not offer any specific concept of the baseline, by studying the relevant laws in the Convention,

we can draw on the legal concept of the baseline as follows: the baseline of the state at sea is the legal milestone outlined based on the lowest tide water along the way the general direction of the coast is either a broken line connecting the capes, peaks, coastal islands for States to determine the width of the waters under the sovereignty and sovereign rights of the State The main baseline is the inner boundary of the territorial sea and the outer boundary of the inland waterway

II Method of determining the baseline in accordance with the

provisions of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.

1 Article 5 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.

2 Article 7, Clause 1 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.

In order to match the actual terrain of each country and the conformity with international law, currently, the method of determining the baseline is divided into the two most common types, which are the usual baseline and the straight baseline

1 The usual baseline method

According to article 5 of the Law of the Sea Convention, it is possible to understand in the most general way the usual baseline: "Except where otherwise provided in this Convention, the normal baseline for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea is the low-water line along the coast as marked on large-scale charts officially recognized by the coastal State." As such, the usual baseline is the lowest tide water (average for many years) along the coast that has been shown on the charts, with a large chain proportion, which has been officially recognized by the coastal state, for atolls or islands surrounded by coastal reefs, This method is also applied, the advantage of this method is that it more

correctly reflects the actual coastline of states, limiting the expansion of the waters under their jurisdiction

1.1 How to define:

The coastal state will choose a day, month, and year when the tide is low

at the time of selection to the lowest along the coast Based on the points and coordinates that were shown at the tide at the time, the coastal state would

declare its baseline

1.2 Applicable conditions:

The usual baseline method applies to countries with straight, flat coastlines, without convex, coastal, stable tides and clear expression

2 Straight baseline method

The straight baseline is the line connecting the appropriate points that can

be selected (the most protruding outermost point of the coast at the lowest tide)

of the coast, the coastal islands form a continuous faulty line.3

2.1 How to identify:

According to Article 7 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, to draw a straight baseline must also comply with certain rules:

- The baseline must go in the general direction of the coast, the waters inside the baseline must be attached to the mainland enough to be placed under inland mode

The phrase "general trend of the coast" first appeared in 1951 in the ruling

of the International Court of Justice concerning the dispute between The United Kingdom and Norway In this case, the International Court of Justice notes that,

"the general trend principle of the coast does not have any mathematical

accuracy." In addition, the International Law Commission also recommends: To

be considered to run in the general direction of the coast, the length of the

straight baseline should not exceed 60 nautical miles and the largest deviation between the straight baseline and the coast should not exceed 20 degrees.4

- The straight baselines must not be pulled to or from shallows when submerged, unless there are sea lamps or similar equipment that are often small on the water surface or the marking of such straight baselines has been generally recognized internationally.5

3 Le Mai Anh (2005), "Modern International Law of the Sea", Publishing House Labor - Society, Hanoi, p 104.

4 Roach J Ashley and Smith, Robert W (2012), “Excessive Maritime Claims”, Martinus Nijhoff, pp 64.

5 Clause 4, Article 7 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.

- The determination of a straight baseline shall not cause the territorial waters of another state to be separated from the sea or exclusive economic zone.6

In addition to the three conditions for the above-mentioned method of straight baseline marking, Clause 5, Article 7 of the 1982 Law of the Sea

Convention also stipulates: When determining certain baselines, the coastal state may take into account the distinct economic benefits of that region whose

importance has been demonstrated through long-term use This is significant as

an exception, when determining the straight baseline as prescribed in Article 7, the coastal state may pull the base sections directly to the island (island group) far from the shore without considering whether to follow the general trend of the coast or be within a distance of twice the width of the territorial sea if it is to be proven That is, the long-term use of this area has demonstrated the economic benefits of the marine area around the digging (island group) which has

significant significance and vital importance to the nation

2.2 Conditions for application:

The straight baseline method is applied to countries with complex

coastlines, the lowest tide water along the coast of that country is not clearly visible

In general, Clause 1, Article 7 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention contains provisions similar to Article 4 of the Geneva Convention 1958 on

territorial waters and contiguous areas Accordingly, there are two special

geographical circumstances that can use a straight baseline: "the coast is deeply cut and convex" or "there is an island banana located right next to and running along the coast" In addition, Paragraph 2 of Article 7 adds to the practical

6 Clause 6, Article 7 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.

circumstances in which the state can draw a straight baseline, which is that "the coasts are truly unstable due to the appearance of deltas or other natural

conditions" These circumstances are explained specifically as follows:

First, the coast is deeply cut and convex

In fact, the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention does not give a specific definition of "deep depression and indentation" except for the similar concept of

"deep depression" in the definition of a gulf enclosed by a state's coastline in Article 10 Based on the defining practice of states as well as the judgments of international jurisdictions, the United States and the International Law

Commission have recommended that the phrase "crooked, deeply cut and convex coast" should satisfy all of the following characteristics": (i) The reclining, deeply cut and concave coast must have at least 03 deep depressions; (ii) These deep depressions must be located close to each other; (iii) The depth of each concave zone from the proposed straight baseline to the sea must be greater than half the length of that baseline

Second, there is a chain of islands located right next to and running along the coast

Given this geographical circumstances, the 1982 Law of the Sea

Convention also does not provide any explanation for clarifying the phrases

"island chain", "located close to" or "along the coast" As recommended by the United States and the International Law Commission, to be considered an island chain must have at least three or more islands and must satisfy the following requirements: (i) The distance between the mainland and the island shall not exceed 24 nautical miles (in order to avoid the lack of close links between the island and the coast); (ii) Each island in the chain is separated from the other

island in the same chain where it seems that the base will be plotted over a

distance of no more than 24 nautical miles (the territorial sea width of the two islands combined); (iii) The island chain must block at least 50% of the relevant coastline

Third, there are special natural conditions that cause instability of the shore as well as the presence of deltas and other natural features This

geographical situation refers to coastlines that change over time (such as

landslides, accretion, etc.) that affect the short-term determination of the lowest tides for conventional baseline marking In fact, to determine the instability of the coast in this case is relatively difficult, it is necessary to observe over a fairly long and stable period of time Therefore, the specific explanation of this

regulation is still a controversial issue

It can be seen that, if the coast does not meet the above geographical conditions, the straight baseline will not be applied, instead, the country may choose to apply the usual baseline method as enshrined in Article 5 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention

III The provisions of the Law of the Sea of Vietnam on the baseline

and assessment of conformity with the 1982 Law of the Sea

Convention.

1 Vietnam's practice of determining baselines

On November 12, 1982, Vietnam issued a Declaration on the baseline used to measure the width of its territorial sea, and also published on the official map of its baseline route Currently, this basic route has also been officially recorded in the Law of the Sea of Vietnam in 2012 Accordingly, the basic road system of our country consists of two parts:

Part 1: The continental coastal baseline consists of 10 straight sections of

11 basis points with a total length of 846 nautical miles, starting from point A0 " point 61 adjacent to 0 of the two baselines used to calculate the width of the territorial waters of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the People's Republic

of Cambodia located in the middle of the sea, on the straight line connecting the Turkzhou and PouLo Wai islands 64 to Point All on Con Co Island, Binh Tri Thien Province (now in Quang Tri Province) The end point at the Mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin will be announced after the issue of maritime demarcation

between Vietnam and China is completed This baseline route demarcates the inland area of about 27,000 square nautical miles (equivalent to 93,000km) The widest inland area, excluding the Gulf of Tonkin, is located between Khoai Island, Con Dao, Hai Island, Team Island, with an area of over 7,000 km The base points in Vietnam's baseline are mainly determined to be located on the islands at the lowest tide, except for the A8 point identified as located on the Cape of Dai Tuong

Part 2: The baseline is used to calculate the territorial sea width of the Paracel and Spratly Islands Currently, the baseline route used to calculate the territorial sea width of the Paracel and Spratly Islands has not yet been

determined due to disputes over the sovereignty of many countries over these two islands, so this route remains open

Focusing on analyzing the system of baselines along the continental coast

of Vietnam, it can be seen that the method that our country applies to determine the baseline is the method of a 10-segment straight baseline connecting 11

coordinate points stretching from south to north

From the perspective of considering the natural characteristics of the coastline that affect the selection of base points in vietnam's road system, it is possible to divide the coastal coastline of Vietnam into the following areas

Area from Con Co Island to Ly Son Island; The area from Ly Son Island to

Mr Căn Island; The area from Mr Căn island to Cape Dai Tuong; The area from Cape Dai Tuong to Mui Da Ná; The area from Cape Da Nang to Vung Tau; Area from Vung Tau to Cape Ca Mau; Area from Cape Ca Mau to Rach Gia; The area from Rach Gia to Ha Tien and Phu Quoc Island

2 The conformity of the Law of the Sea of Vietnam 2012 with the 1982 Law

of the Sea Convention

In Article 8 of the Law of the Sea of Vietnam in 2012: “The baseline used

to calculate the breadth of Vietnam's territorial sea is the straight baseline

announced by the Government The Government defines and publishes baselines

in areas where no baselines are available after approval by the National

Assembly Standing Committee.”, Vietnam reaffirmed the use of the method of determining the straight baseline used to calculate the width of the territorial sea

in accordance with the spirit that the Party and State defined in the 1977

Declaration and the 1982 Declaration This once again confirms Vietnam's

consistency throughout the periods when considering natural conditions,

geographical location, coastal terrain towards the method of determining the baseline in accordance with the country and the provisions of international law

Basically, Vietnam's straight baseline is in line with the provisions of UNCLOS 1982 on how to define a straight, specific baseline:

First, Article 7 of UNCLOS 1982 stipulates that the straight baseline method can only be applied if the coast of the coastal state is a convex, convex