What Is Continental Shelf In International Law

A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea.

What is continental shelf in international law.

The continental shelf is an underwater landmass which extends from a continent resulting in an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea. The definition of the continental shelf and the criteria by which a coastal state may establish the outer limits of its continental shelf are set out in article 76 of the convention. The coastal state enjoys sovereign rights over the resources of the eez and the continental shelf. Much of these shelves has been exposed during glacial periods and interglacial periods the shelf surrounding an island is known as an insular shelf.

Coastal states inherent right to their continental shelf is a fundamental principle of the law of the sea. The significance of the continental shelf and the need for a unique legitimate system pertinent to it didn t become obvious until question of the nature and degree of the beach front state s rights to investigate and misuse the characteristic. Failure to meet the deadline is a breach of the state s obligations under the un convention on the law of the sea but will not necessarily result in the coastal state losing its right to continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. The continental shelf in its topographical sense is very un similarly conveyed around the landmass.

The convention on the continental shelf was an international treaty created to codify the rules of international law relating to continental shelves the treaty after entering into force 10 june 1964 established the rights of a sovereign state over the continental shelf surrounding it if there be any. According to the united nations convention on the law of the sea unclos which came into force in 1994 the continental shelf that borders a country s shoreline is considered to be a continuation of the country s land territory. International law commission stating that the reason for its not adopting a fixed limit for the continental shelf this limit being determined by the depth of the superjacent waters or to be more exact by a depth of two hundred meters coincides exactly with that at which the continental shelf in the geological sense generally comes to. The continental margin between the continental shelf and the abyssal plain comprises a steep continental slope.

The regimes of continental shelf and eez co exist under the customary international law and the 1982 convention. Importance under the international law. Much of the shelves were exposed during glacial periods and inter glacial periods. They contain few significant similarities and differences.

Continental shelf and eez.