DOCSLIB.ORG

Sealand, Havenco, and the Rule of Law

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Sealand, Havenco, and the Rule of Law SEALAND, HAVENCO, AND THE RULE OF LAW James Grimmelmann* In 2000, a group of American entrepreneursmoved to a former World War I antiaircraftplatform in the North Sea, seven miles off the British coast. There, they launched HavenCo, one of the strangest start-ups in Internet history. A former pirate radio broadcaster,Roy Bates, had occupied the platform in the 1960s, moved his family aboard, and declared it to be the sovereign Principality of Sealand. HavenCo's founders were opposed to governmental censorship and control of the Internet; by putting computer servers on Sealand, they planned to create a "data haven" for unpopularspeech, safely beyond the reach of any other country. This Article tells the full story of Sealand and HavenCo-and examines what they have to tell us about the nature of the rule of law in the age of the Internet. The story itself is fascinating enough: it includes pirate radio, shotguns, rampant copyright infringement, a Red Bull skateboarding special,perpetual motion machines, and the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of State. But its implicationsfor the rule of law are even more remarkable. Previous scholars have seen HavenCo as a straightforwardchallenge to the rule of law: by threat- ening to undermine national authority, HavenCo was opposed to all law. As the fuller history shows, this story is too simplistic. HavenCo also depended on internationallaw to recognize and protect Sealand, and on Sealand law to protect it from Sealand itself. Where others have seen HavenCo'sfailure as the triumph of traditionalregulatory authoritiesover HavenCo, this Article argues that in a very real sense, Haven Co failed not from too much law but from too little. The "law" * Associate Professor of Law, New York Law School. I presented earlier versions of this Arti- cle at the Bits Without Borders conference at Michigan State University, to the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, and to faculty workshops at New York Law School and Fordham Law School. My thanks for their comments to the attendees there, to the readers of the Volokh Conspiracy blog, and to Aislinn Black, Claude Aiken, David Auerbach, Robert Blecker, Andrea Casillas, Michael Froomkin, Jean Galbraith, Nathaniel Gleicher, Peter Hirtle, Molly Land, Jan Lewis, Dominic Mauro, David Post, Harry Surden, Berin Szoka, and Christopher Wong. Nate Anderson generously shared the Sealand-related fruits of his research for his forthcoming book, The Internet Police. William Mills at the NYLS library helped track down numerous sources. Geoffrey Weg and Katie Baxter provided research assistance. This Article is available for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 U.S. license, http://creativecommons.org/licensesby/3.0/us/. 406 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LAW REVIEW [Vol. 2012 that was supposed to keep HavenCo safe was law only in a thin, for- malistic sense, disconnected from the human institutions that make and enforce law. But without those institutions,law does not work, as HavenCo discovered. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRO DUCTION ............................................................................................. 406 II. S EA LA ND ...................................................................................................... 4 12 A . 1942: R oughs Tow er........................................................................... 413 B . 1966-1967: R oy B ates ........................................................................ 414 C. 1967: Roy Bates vs. The United Kingdom .......................................... 418 D. 1967-1968: The Principalityof Sealand............................................ 421 E. 1968-1978: GrandSchemes ................................. 424 F. 19 78: Civil W ar .................................................................................. 427 G. 19 78-1990: PirateBroadcasting Redux ............................................. 430 H. 1987-2011: Recent Developments...................................................... 434 I. L ife on Sealand................................................................................... 437 J. Other Sealands ................................................................................... 439 K. Th em es ................................................................................................ 4 4 3 III. H AVEN C O..................................................................................................... 44 5 A . "Data Haven ..................................................................................... 445 B . R ise .....................................................................................................44 9 C. F all ..................................................................................................... 4 5 3 IV . THE R ULE OF LAW ........................................................................................ 457 A . N ationalL aw ...................................................................................... 459 1. Haven Co and NationalLaw ...................................................... 460 2. The Rule of Law As Self-Government........................................ 463 B . InternationalLaw ............................................................................... 465 1. Sealand and InternationalLaw ................................................. 465 2. The Rule of Law As FormalLegality ......................................... 473 C . Sealand L aw ....................................................................................... 476 1. The Rule of Law As Restraint on Government........................... 476 2. HavenCo and SealandLaw ....................................................... 477 D . C onnections ........................................................................................ 479 V . C ONCLU SIO N ................................................................................................48 1 I. INTRODUCTION Sealand is stranger than fiction. A pair of concrete legs supporting a 120-foot by 50-foot platform, 60 feet above the North Sea, this "small- est country on earth" sits 7 miles off the British coast. Built during World War II for antiaircraft defense, it was occupied in the 1960s by Roy Bates, a former pirate radio operator who declared himself ruler of the new Principality of Sealand. Boosting his claim, a British court ac- quitted him in 1968 on firearms charges because Sealand stood outside of British territorial waters. He made Sealand into his family's home: No. 2] SEALAND, HAVENCO, AND THE RULE OF LAW promulgating a constitution; issuing stamps, coins, and passports; and generally adopting the trappings of nationhood. Sealand has even had a coup and countercoup: in 1978 a German lawyer seized control of the platform, only to be taken prisoner by Bates in a daring helicopter land- ing a few days later. Sealand's moment of greatest fame came in 2000, when it offered the ultimate in literally offshore data hosting. The Internet startup HavenCo built out Sealand as a data center, moving in computer servers and connecting them to the Internet. The idea was that HavenCo would be a data haven, which would store content that was illegal in other coun- tries. Online casinos, subpoena-proof corporate records, good old- fashioned pornography-HavenCo would host it all, safely beyond the reach of any other country's courts. The company launched to massive press coverage (including a cover story in Wired'), promising unfettered free speech to the masses while extending a raised middle finger to cen- 2 sors and control freaks around the world. This much is familiar to scholars.3 Talk to any Internet-law scholar 1. See Simson Garfinkel, Welcome to Sealand. Now Bugger Off, WIRED, July 2000, at 230. 2. See, e.g., Around the Globe, 27 COMPUTER L. & TAX REP. 16, 16 (2000); Mara D. Bellaby, An Internet "Mouse that Roars" Pops up off Britain, Hous. CHRON., June 25, 2000, at 10; Steve Boggan, Americans Turn a Tin-Pot State off the Essex Coast into World Capital of Computer Anarchy, INDEP. (Eng.), June 5, 2000, at 3; David Canton, Creating a Country to Avoid Jurisdiction, LONDON FREE PRESS, June 16, 2000, at D3; David Cohen, Offshore Haven: Cold Water Poured on Sealand Se- curity, GUARDIAN, June 6, 2000, at 24; Anne Cornelius, Legal Issues Online Firms Set to Take Refuge in Offshore Fortress, SCOTSMAN, June 15, 2000, at 26; Peter Ford, Banned on Land, but Free at Sea?, CHRISTIAN SCI. MONITOR, June 23, 2000, at 1; Dan Gillmor, Data Haven May Be a Step in the Right Direction, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, June 6, 2000, at IC; Carlos Grande, Island Fortress's "Data Ha- ven" to Confront E-Trade Regulation, FIN. TIMES, June 6, 2000, at 2; Ann Harrison, Data Haven Says It Offers Freedom from Observation, COMPUTERWORLD, Nov. 13, 2000, at 50; Bob Low, Techlife: Tiptoing Through the Web, DAILY REC. (Scot.), July 1, 2000, at 42; John Markoff, Rebel Outpost on the Fringes of Cyberspace, N.Y. TIMES, June 4, 2000, at 14; Wade O'Leary, Pirates Board the Net, DAILY TELEGRAPH (Austl.), June 7, 2010, at 57; Edward Sherwin, A Distant Sense of Data Security, WASH. POST, Sept. 20, 2000, at G8; Europe Acts on Net Tax Loophole, ACCT. AGE, June 8, 2000, at 3; Internet Exiles, NEW SCIENTIST, June 17, 2000, at 1717; Internet "Island" Set Up in the North Sea: Data Haven with Gun Guards and Radar, BIRMINGHAM EVENING MAIL (U.K.), June 6, 2000, at 17; Internet Secrets Safe at Sea, COVENTRY EVENING TELEGRAPH (U.K.), June 6, 2000, at 17; Rebel Sea Fortress Dreams of Being "Data Haven,"
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Houseboat Living on the Seine È
    HOUSEBOAT LIVING ON THE SEINE Lonely pénichards or strong communities? Sciences Po Master students – Urban School, program “Governing the Large Metropolis”: Paola Chapdelaine: [email protected] Emeline Dutheil: [email protected] Lorena Figueiredo: [email protected] Marissa Potasiak: [email protected] Paul Tristan Victor: [email protected] Working papers du Programme Cities are Back in Town [email protected] http://blogs.sciences-po.fr/recherche-villes/ Cahiers de recherche du Programme Cities are Back in Town n° 2015-1 Chapdelaine P., Dutheil E., Figueiredo L., Potasiak M. and Victor, P.T., « Houseboat living on the Seine ». Abstract: A stroll along the Seine will alert even the most casual observer to the unique presence of houseboats moored along the river’s banks, many of them clustered in small ports and canals. Examining closer, one might even feel a twinge of jealousy at the sight of normally hurried Parisians using the Seine as their own personal backyard — hosting family barbecues, making quick excursions down the river, or simply enjoying long, carefree conversations with their neighbors. However, a real understanding of the linkages between these houseboats — and the people who make their life on them, the houseboaters — requires a more structured process of investigation. We ask ourselves, then, the following research question: How might the conditions of houseboat living on the Seine shape relations between houseboat owners? We hypothesize that houseboaters share practices, produce a specific body of knowledge, and form a sense of common identity in a manner that creates houseboat communities on the Seine. Our paper is organized as follows.
    [Show full text]
  • Oral Arguments
    ORAL ARGUMENTS MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC SI'ITINGS held or the Peace Palace, The Hague, from 4 ro 26 Jurre 1973 FlRST PUBLIC SITTING (4 VI 73, 3 p.m.) Present: Presidenr LACHS;Vice-Presideitf AMMOUN;J~~dges FORSTER, GROS, BENGZON,PETRÉN, ONYEAMA, IGNACIO-PINTO, DE CASTRO,MOROZOV, JIMÉNEZ DE ARÉCHAGA,SIR Humphrey WALDOCK,NAGEKORA SINGE, RUDA; Ji~dge ad hoc Sir Muhammad ZAFRULLAKHAN; Regisrrar AOUARONE. Also preseitt: Far tlre Covernnlenr of Pokisran: H.E. Mr. J. G. Kharas, Ambassadorof Pakistan to IheNetherlands, as Agent; Mr. S. T. Joshua, Secretary of Embassy, as Deputy-Agent; Mr. Yahya Bakhtiar, Attorney-General of Pakistan. as Clrief Counsel; Mr. Zahid Said, Deputy Legal Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Govern- ment of Pakistan, as Cowtsel. PAKISTANI PRISONERS OF WAR OPENING OF THE ORAL PROCEEDLNGS The PRESIDENT: The Court meets today to consider the request for the indication of interim measures of protection, under Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and Article 66 of the 1972 Rules of Court, filed by the Government of Pakistan on II May 1973, in the case concerning the Trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War, brought by Pakistan against India. The proceedings in this case were begun by an Application by the Govern- ment of Pakistan, filed in the Registry of the Court on 11 May 1973'. The Application founds the jurisdiction of the Court on Article IX of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948, generally known as "the~ ~ Genocide~ Convention".
    [Show full text]
  • Houseboats and Floating Houses
    Houseboats and Floating Houses Houseboats and floating houses are built elements that lie on top of the water surface, and therefore have there sensations depicted by the moving water below and views surround them. They are unique places to live due to these sensations. Houseboats and floating houses are very different. The major difference is in the fact that houseboats move themselves whilst floating houses are located in primarily the one spot. Living on the water can create a strong sense of community though floating houses, or it can provide privacy through houseboats, both however give the occupant a strong understanding and appreciation of the natural environment. http:// popularmechanics.com Differences between houseboats and floating houses- The major difference between houseboat and floating house design is the amount of manoeuvrability required. The typical houseboat for example has as hull that is submerged below the waves which allows the boat to move in the water with ease and direction. There are two major types of houseboats, the first has one hull that is curved to move through the water quickly, and it is designed for speed and to move though rough waters. The other has a pontoon base that is wider in the water and contains at least two hull extrusions into the water. This houseboat style is for slow cruising through waterways as it has less speed and manoeuvrability. The living area above or within the hull is therefore designed to maximise the space below and above the water level. In faster single hulled boats sleeping and living quarters are included in the hull of the boat, an example of which is a yacht.
    [Show full text]
  • Adventurer Houseboat Manual
    WELCOME TO 53’ ADVENTURER HOUSEBOAT MANUAL TABLE OF CONTENTS Marine Radio .....................................................................................................1 Engines/Helm .................................................................................................. 3 Houseboat Batteries .......................................................................................6 Generator ..........................................................................................................8 Water Pressure ..............................................................................................10 Hot Water ....................................................................................................... 12 Holding Tanks ..................................................................................................13 Gas/Propane .................................................................................................. 15 Refrigerator ..................................................................................................... 17 Range ................................................................................................................ 19 Grill ................................................................................................................... 20 Heater ............................................................................................................... 21 Cooling .............................................................................................................22
    [Show full text]
  • Mirrorshade Women: Feminism and Cyberpunk
    Mirrorshade Women: Feminism and Cyberpunk at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century Carlen Lavigne McGill University, Montréal Department of Art History and Communication Studies February 2008 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Studies © Carlen Lavigne 2008 2 Abstract This study analyzes works of cyberpunk literature written between 1981 and 2005, and positions women’s cyberpunk as part of a larger cultural discussion of feminist issues. It traces the origins of the genre, reviews critical reactions, and subsequently outlines the ways in which women’s cyberpunk altered genre conventions in order to advance specifically feminist points of view. Novels are examined within their historical contexts; their content is compared to broader trends and controversies within contemporary feminism, and their themes are revealed to be visible reflections of feminist discourse at the end of the twentieth century. The study will ultimately make a case for the treatment of feminist cyberpunk as a unique vehicle for the examination of contemporary women’s issues, and for the analysis of feminist science fiction as a complex source of political ideas. Cette étude fait l’analyse d’ouvrages de littérature cyberpunk écrits entre 1981 et 2005, et situe la littérature féminine cyberpunk dans le contexte d’une discussion culturelle plus vaste des questions féministes. Elle établit les origines du genre, analyse les réactions culturelles et, par la suite, donne un aperçu des différentes manières dont la littérature féminine cyberpunk a transformé les usages du genre afin de promouvoir en particulier le point de vue féministe.
    [Show full text]
  • Canada's Sovereignty Over the Northwest Passage
    Michigan Journal of International Law Volume 10 Issue 2 1989 Canada's Sovereignty Over the Northwest Passage Donat Pharand University of Ottawa Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjil Part of the International Law Commons, and the Law of the Sea Commons Recommended Citation Donat Pharand, Canada's Sovereignty Over the Northwest Passage, 10 MICH. J. INT'L L. 653 (1989). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjil/vol10/iss2/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Michigan Journal of International Law at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Journal of International Law by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CANADA'S SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE Donat Pharand* In 1968, when this writer published "Innocent Passage in the Arc- tic,"' Canada had yet to assert its sovereignty over the Northwest Pas- sage. It has since done so by establishing, in 1985, straight baselines around the whole of its Arctic Archipelago. In August of that year, the U. S. Coast Guard vessel PolarSea made a transit of the North- west Passage on its voyage from Thule, Greenland, to the Chukchi Sea (see Route 1 on Figure 1). Having been notified of the impending transit, Canada informed the United States that it considered all the waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago as historic internal waters and that a request for authorization to transit the Northwest Passage would be necessary.
    [Show full text]
  • Who Governs the Internet? the Emerging Policies, Institutions, and Governance of Cyberspace
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2013 Who Governs the Internet? The Emerging Policies, Institutions, and Governance of Cyberspace Robert J. Domanski The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1481 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] i WHO GOVERNS THE INTERNET? THE EMERGING POLICIES, INSTITUTIONS, AND GOVERNANCE OF CYBERSPACE by ROBERT J. DOMANSKI A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2013 ii © 2013 ROBERT J. DOMANSKI All Rights Reserved iii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Donna Kirchheimer 8/5/2013 Date Chair of Examining Committee Joe Rollins 8/5/2013 Date Executive Officer Stephen Brier Andrew Rich Charles Tien Sarah Zelikovitz Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iv Abstract WHO GOVERNS THE INTERNET? THE EMERGING POLICIES, INSTITUTIONS, AND GOVERNANCE OF CYBERSPACE by Robert J. Domanski Sponsor: Professor Donna Kirchheimer There remains a widespread perception among both the public and elements of academia that the Internet is “ungovernable”. However, this idea, as well as the notion that the Internet has become some type of cyber-libertarian utopia, is wholly inaccurate.
    [Show full text]
  • Small States & Territories, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2019, Pp. 183-194 Oecusse And
    Small States & Territories, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2019, pp. 183-194 Oecusse and the Sultanate of Occussi-Ambeno: Pranksterism, misrepresentation and micronationality Philip Hayward School of Communications University of Technology Sydney Australia [email protected] Abstract: Occussi-Ambeno, a fictional sultanate initially conceived by Aotearoan/New Zealander anarchist artist Bruce Grenville in 1968 and represented and developed by him and others over the last fifty years, is notable as both an early example of a virtual micronation (i.e. a type that does not attempt to enact itself within the physical territory it claims) and as an entity affixed to an entire pre-existent territory (in the case of the Sultanate of Occussi- Ambeno, that of Oecusse on the north-west coast of the island of Timor). The latter aspect is pertinent in that however imaginary the micronation is, its association with a region of a small state raises questions concerning the ethics of (mis)representation. This is particularly pertinent in the case of Oecusse, which was occupied by Indonesian forces in 1975 and had its distinct identity subsumed within the Indonesian state until Timor-Leste (and Oecusse as its exclave) successfully gained independence in 2002. Discussions in the article compare the anarcho- pranksterist impulse behind the creation of the Sultanate of Occussi-Ambeno and its manifestation in visual media – primarily through the design and production of ‘artistamps’ (faux postage stamps) – to related economic and socio-political contexts. Keywords: artistamps, Indonesia, micronation, misrepresentation, Occussi-Ambeno, Oecusse, Portugal, Timor, Timor Leste © 2019 – Islands and Small States Institute, University of Malta, Malta.
    [Show full text]
  • Coastal State's Jurisdiction Over Foreign Vessels
    Pace International Law Review Volume 14 Issue 1 Spring 2002 Article 2 April 2002 Coastal State's Jurisdiction over Foreign Vessels Anne Bardin Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pilr Recommended Citation Anne Bardin, Coastal State's Jurisdiction over Foreign Vessels, 14 Pace Int'l L. Rev. 27 (2002) Available at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pilr/vol14/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pace International Law Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ARTICLES COASTAL STATE'S JURISDICTION OVER FOREIGN VESSELS Anne Bardin I. Introduction ....................................... 28 II. The Rights and Duties of States in the Different Sea Zones Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ............................. 30 A. Internal W aters ............................... 30 1. Jurisdiction Over Foreign Merchant V essels ..................................... 30 2. Jurisdiction Over Foreign Warships ....... 31 3. The Right of all Vessels to Free Access to P ort ........................................ 32 B. The Territorial Sea ............................ 33 1. Innocent Passage in the Territorial Sea .... 34 2. Legislative Competence of the Coastal State ....................................... 35 3. Implementation of its Legislation by the Coastal State .............................. 36 4. Criminal Jurisdiction of the Coastal State ....................................... 37 5. W arships .................................. 39 C. The Contiguous Zone .......................... 39 D. The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) ........... 40 1. Rights of the Coastal State in its EEZ ..... 41 2. Artificial Islands and Scientific Research .. 41 3. Rights of Foreign States in the EEZ ....... 43 4.
    [Show full text]
  • The Non-Native Language of Cyberpunk: from Retro-Diction to Pre-Diction and Back Again
    Knowledge Cultures 6(1), 2018 pp. 131–146, ISSN 2327-5731, eISSN 2375-6527 doi:10.22381/KC61201810 THE NON-NATIVE LANGUAGE OF CYBERPUNK: FROM RETRO-DICTION TO PRE-DICTION AND BACK AGAIN. AN INTERVIEW WITH BRUCE STERLING PETAR JANDRIĆ [email protected] Zagreb University of Applied Sciences ABSTRACT. Bruce Sterling, author, journalist, editor, and critic, was born in 1954. Best known for his ten science fiction novels, he also writes short stories, book reviews, design criticism, opinion columns, and introductions for books ranging from Ernst Juenger to Jules Verne. During 2005, he was the Visionary in Residence at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. In 2008 he was the Guest Curator for the Share Festival of Digital Art and Culture in Torino, Italy, and the Visionary in Residence at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam. In 2011 he returned to Art Center as Visionary in Residence to run a special project on Augmented Reality. In 2013, he was the Visionary in Residence at the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University. In 2015 he was the Curator of the Casa Jasmina project at the Torino Fab Lab. In 2016 he was Visionary in Residence at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination. Bruce’s nonfiction works include The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier (1992), Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years (2003), Shaping Things (2005), and The Epic Struggle Of The Internet Of Things (2014). Bruce’s novels include Involution Ocean (1977), Islands in the Net (1988), The Difference Engine (1991) (with William Gibson), Holy Fire (1996), The Zenith Angle (2004), and Pirate Utopia (2016).
    [Show full text]
  • The Story of the Kingdom of L'anse-Saint-Jean
    Transformations issue 35 (2021) Anachronistic Progressivism: Advancing www.transformationsjournal.org Sovereignty through Monarchy - The story of ISSN 1444-3775 the Kingdom of L’Anse-Saint-Jean AUTHOR BIO R. Georges Gardinetti & Valérie Vézina R. Georges Gardinetti is a graduate student at Simon Fraser ABSTRACT University, BritisH Columbia, Canada and studies public policy. This article examines the story of the Kingdom of L’Anse-Saint-Jean where a Dr. Valérie Vézina is a professor popular referendum resulted in the first and only North American municipal of political science at Kwantlen monarchy. Many questioned whether this was a puBlicity stunt; for Denys PolytecHnic University, BritisH Tremblay, aka King Denys I, it represented much more than that. Moreover, Columbia, Canada. Her research as a living performance piece it challenged people’s perspectives on focuses on the intersection nationalism, sovereignty, and democracy. King Denys I applied his own between nationalism studies and personal touch to the project which sought to attract people to the region as island studies. She specialises in well as show what could Be done within the limits of the status quo. Though comparative studies and has the monarchy was short-lived, it achieved what decades of separatist politics published books and articles on could not in QuéBec: the estaBlishment of a sovereign suB-unit of a democracy Puerto Rico, American Samoa without contravening its constitution. and Newfoundland. KEYWORDS micronations, sovereignty, nationalism, L’Anse-Saint-Jean, QuéBec Gardinetti & Vézina 53 Introduction In 1997, after a popular referendum, the Kingdom of L’Anse-Saint-Jean was estaBlished. Its first (and only) monarch, Denys I, was crowned King of the municipal monarchy.
    [Show full text]
  • Artificial Islands and Territory in International Law
    Artificial Islands and Territory in International Law Dr. Imogen Saunders* ABSTRACT Artificially created islands are a contemporary reality, created and used for military and nonmilitary purposes. Analysis of such islands has largely been limited to their status under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) regime. Their position under general international law, however, remains unclear. In particular, the question of whether artificial islands can constitute sovereign territory remains unanswered. This Article analyzes the concept of territory in international law in the context of artificial islands, and argues that neither the doctrine of territory nor the strictures of UNCLOS prevent artificial islands from constituting territory capable of sovereign appropriation. This is further confirmed by examining state practice relating to artificial islands. The Article argues that artificial islands can be considered territory if they meet certain criteria: albeit territory not generating a territorial sea. Understanding artificial islands as capable of constituting territory allows for a more comprehensive and consistent positioning of such islands in regards to other general international law doctrines. The Article demonstrates this through the application of the doctrine of the unlawful acquisition of territory to artificial islands. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 644 II. ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS AND THE CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA ......................................................................
    [Show full text]