National Studies of the Law Applicable on the Continental Shelf and in the EEZ

The Law Applicable on the Continental Shelf and in the Exclusive Economic Zone: The Polish Perspective Maria Dragun-Gertner and Zuzanna Peplowska Faculty of Law and Administration, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń,

Dorota Pyć Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Gdańsk, Poland

GENERAL/DESCRIPTIVE

1. Is your country a party to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea? Poland is a party to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Polish Parliament agreed to the ratifi cation of the Convention and Agreement on Part XI on 2 July 1998.1 Consequently, the Convention and Agreement on Part XI was ratifi ed by the President and came into force in Poland on 13 December 1998.2 2. Is or was your country party to the 1958 Convention on the Continental Shelf ? 3. Did your country adopt legislation to implement the 1958 Convention (if a party)? Was this legislation amended after 1982? Poland is also a party to the 1958 Convention on the Continental Shelf, which was ratifi ed on 22 May 1962.3 On 17 December 1977, the Parliament of the Polish People’s Republic adopted the Act on the Continental Shelf of the Polish People’s Republic, which came into force on 1 January 1978.4 The Polish continental shelf

1. Statute with the agreement for the ratifi cation found in the Offi cial Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland - Dz. U. 1998, No. 98, item 609. 2. Ratifi cation found in the Offi cial Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland - Dz. U. 2002, No. 59, item 543. 3. Ratifi cation found in the Offi cial Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland - Dz. U. 1964, No. 28, item 179. 4. Act of December 17th 1977 on the Continental Shelf of the Polish People’s Republic, Offi cial Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland - Dz. U. 1977, No. 37, item 164. Ocean Yearbook 25: 411–434 411 412 National Studies of the Law Applicable on the Continental Shelf and in the EEZ was defi ned as part of the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas situated outside of the Polish territorial sea.5 The external boundaries of the Polish continental shelf were provided for international treaties or, in their absence, by the Council of the Ministers by means of an ordinance. Poland has signed bilateral treaties delimiting the continental shelf in the Baltic Sea with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on 17 July 1985,6 with the Kingdom of Sweden on 10 February 1989,7 and with the German Democratic Republic on 22 May 1989.8 Also, on 17 December 1977, the statute on the territorial sea of Polish People’s Republic was introduced.9 According to that act the territorial sea was the maritime area of the width of 12 nautical miles (NM) measured from the coastline or from the baseline closing Polish internal waters at the Bay of Gdańsk. The statute provides for Polish sovereignty over the territorial sea, the airspace over such waters, as well as the seabed and the subsoil of the territorial sea. It also safeguards the right of innocent passage for foreign ships through that area. Both of the acts concerned with the Polish continental shelf and Polish ter- ritorial waters were repealed with the introduction of the Act on Polish Maritime Areas and Marine Administration (the Maritime Act) on 1 July 1991.10 4. Has your country adopted national legislation with respect to its maritime boundaries? The Maritime Act is a comprehensive statute on Polish maritime boundaries.11 Article 2 of the statute lists Polish maritime areas, i.e., internal waters, the terri- torial sea and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Internal waters and the

5. Art.1.1 of the Act on the Continental Shelf of the Polish People’s Republic. 6. Treaty between the Polish People’s Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics concerning Delimitation of the Territorial Sea (Territorial Waters), the Economic Zone, the Marine Fishery Zone and the Continental Shelf in the Baltic Sea, signed on 17 July 1985, Offi cial Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland - Dz. U. 1986, No. 16, item 85. 7. Treaty concerning the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf and the Fishery Zones between the Polish People’s Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden concluded on 10 February 1989, Offi cial Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland - Dz. U. 1989, No. 54, item 323. 8. Treaty between the Polish People’s Republic and the German Democratic Republic concerning the Delimitation of Marine Areas in the Bay of from 22 May 1989, Offi cial Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland - Dz. U. 1989, No. 43, item 233. 9. Act of December 17th 1977 on the territorial sea of the Polish People’s Republic, Offi cial Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland - Dz. U. 1977, No. 37, item 162. 10. Act of March 21st 1991 on Polish Maritime Areas and Marine Administration (the Maritime Act), (ustawa o obszarach morskich Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej i administracji morskiej), Offi cial Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland - Dz. U. 2003, No. 153, item. 1502 11. Id.