What Is Continental Shelf In International Law

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.

What is continental shelf in international law. Much of the shelves were exposed during glacial periods and inter glacial periods. Continental shelf and eez. Importance under the 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 coastal state enjoys sovereign rights over the resources of the eez and the continental shelf. The continental margin between the continental shelf and the abyssal plain comprises a steep continental slope. 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 regimes of continental shelf and eez co exist under the customary international law and the 1982 convention.

Much of these shelves has been exposed during glacial periods and interglacial periods the shelf surrounding an island is known as an insular shelf. 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 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. The law of the sea.

Coastal countries have exclusive rights to resources located within the continental shelf which legally is defined as the seabed up to. 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. Definition of the continental shelf. They contain few significant similarities and differences.

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