THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARINE AND COASTAL The International Journal of LAW Marine and Coastal Law 27 (2012) 167–177 brill.nl/estu

Current Legal Developments

Control of Navigation in Waters off the Coast of Georgia

After the military conflict of 1992–1993 between separatist de facto authori- ties of and the central government of Georgia, Abkhazia became a breakaway region of Georgia governed by a separatist regime which was sup- ported by the Russian Federation.1 During August 2008, following a further period of conflict between the Russian Federation and Georgia, the Russian Federation occupied Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.2 On 23 October 2008, Georgia adopted a law on occupied territories which declared both breakaway regions—Abkhazian Autonomous Republic of Georgia (including internal waters and territorial sea) and South Ossetia— to be territories occupied by the Russian Federation. Furthermore, it placed restrictions on entry to the occupied territories and prohibited all types of economic activities without due consent of the Government of Georgia.3 Changes were also made to the Criminal Code of Georgia by making the above-mentioned acts punishable as criminal offences. In August 2009, the Georgian arrested a foreign-owned and -registered tanker within Georgia’s 120-nautical-mile (nm) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for a violation of Georgian law concerning activities in certain occupied territories.4 The vessel was engaged in smuggling fuel to the de facto authorities of Abkhazia/Georgia. Since 2008 the Abkhazia region has been

1 For the history of the conflict see the official web page of the Office of the State Minister for Reintegration at http://smr.gov.ge/en/abkhazia/conflict_chronology. This and all subsequent web-based references were checked on 31 August 2011 unless stated otherwise. 2 For detailed information on the Russian invasion and occupation see http://www.smr.gov. ge/en/home/russian_aggression_in_georgia. 3 For the English version of Georgian law on occupied territories, see the official web page of the , www.parliament.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=69&info_ id=18768. 4 Georgia’s EEZ does not extend to 200 nm because of its geographical position. The precise maritime boundaries of the EEZ between Georgia and the Russian Federation have not been

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI: 10.1163/157180812X615726 S. Kvinikhidze / 168 The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law 27 (2012) 167–177 under occupation by the Russian Federation. During this period Georgia has been unable to exercise de facto control over the occupied region, including its maritime zones. The arrest of the vessel and detention of its crew subsequently resulted in a political dispute between Georgia and the Republic of over the legality of the measures taken by the Georgian government. This article briefly describes the facts of the incident and its background, and reviews the legal issues arising from it.

The Arrest of theBuket

On 16 August 2009, a tanker named the Buket, sailing under the flag of the Republic of Panama and operated by a Turkish-registered company, was stopped and arrested by the of Georgia in the EEZ of Georgia for the violation of Georgian law on occupied territories, namely ‘Violation of the Rules of Entry to the Occupied Territories Envisaged by Article 322 of the Criminal Code of Georgia’. The tanker was carrying 2000 tons of petrol and 700,075 tons of diesel to Abkhazia/Georgia. According to the information obtained from the , the Buket was suspected of violat- ing Georgian law on occupied territories and of several instances of illegal navigation to the closed ports5 of Abkhazia/Georgia.6 There was also a well- founded suspicion that the Buket was supplying the armed forces and deployed in Russian-occupied Abkhazia. The crew of the tanker consisted of 17 persons including the , 13 of whom were Turkish nationals and 4 of whom were nationals. TheBuket’s documentation revealed that it had left the Turkish port Izmiti and its final destination was the port of in Abkhazia. The tanker was brought to the port of where the crew members were prosecuted and sentenced by the Poti city court. The crew members were charged with offences provided for in Article 322 (2)(a) of the Criminal Code of Georgia, i.e., violation of the rules of entry to the occupied agreed. The delimitation with Turkey was agreed in 1997. The outer limit of the EEZ extends to 120 nm. 5 The ports of Abkhazia/Georgia were announced as being closed ports for navigation before the resolution of the conflict by the Presidential Decrees of 31 January 1996, N.140, and 3 August 2004, N. 313, except for transportation of humanitarian aid, subject to the permis- sion of the relevant Georgian state agency. The notification on closure of the ports was sent on 6 August 2004 to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). 6 See Georgian daily news online in www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=21389 and information disseminated by the , www.gbg.ge/index.php?lang=geo&page=165& news=732.