ML í lögfræði Straight baselines across Icelandic bays and fjords Desember, 2018 Nafn nemanda: Helgi Bergmann Kennitala: 011183-2129 Leiðbeinandi: Dr. Bjarni Már Magnússon Abstract The goal of this paper is to examine the history of the establishment of straight baselines in Iceland as well as to evaluate the consequences of this action both on Iceland’s maritime zones and on Iceland’s rights and obligations according to international law. One of the author’s personal objectives in conducting this research was to be able to collect and analyze available data in order to create high quality maps that would be of value for future research on Icelandic maritime zones. In 1952 Iceland established a system of straight baselines around its entire coastline. In the process bays and fjords were closed off, creating large ares of internal waters. The United Kingdom objected to the new baselines and supported its fishing industry in subjecting Iceland to a landing ban. The Cold War and U.S. support of Iceland strengthened Iceland’s hand and may have shielded it from harsher criticism of its baselines. An examination of the baselines drawn in 1952 and their development since then reveals that Iceland’s straight baselines have increased the area of the state’s internal waters considerably more than it has expanded the territorial sea. Newly created computer drawn maps based on official data indicate that the extension of Iceland’s territorial sea from 3 to 4 nautical miles in 1952 resulted in a greater gain of maritime area that the extension from 4 nautical miles to 12 nautical miles in 1958. The rules on straight baselines in international law are analyzed and certain segments of Iceland’s baselines are appraised. The effects of the straight baselines on navigation and maritime delimitation are considered. The potential impact on Iceland’s fisheries were it to join the European Union is examined by studying the intersection of EU fisheries policy and Iceland’s straight baselines. ii Útdráttur Tilgangur þessarar ritgerðar er að kanna sögu þess að komið var á fót beinum grunnlínum í kringum Ísland, sem og að meta afleiðingar þessarar aðgerðar jafnt á hafsvæði Íslands sem og á réttindi og skyldur Íslands að þjóðarétti. Eitt af persónulegum markmiðum höfundar er að afla og rýna í gögn og heimildir í því skyni að búa til kort í góðum gæðum sem gætu komið að gagni við frekari rannsóknir á hafsvæðum Íslands. Árið 1952 setti Ísland á stofn kerfi beinna grunnlína meðfram strandlengju sinni. Fyrir vikið var lokað fyrir firði og flóa og stór svæði urðu að innsævi. Bretland mótmælti hinum nýju grunnlínum og beitti fyrir sig útgerðarmönnum og kom á löndunarbanni á íslenskum fiski. Kalda stríðið og stuðningur Bandaríkjanna styrkti stöðu Íslands og kann að hafa haldið hlífðarskildi gagnvart gagnrýni á grunnlínurnar. Rannsókn á grunnlínunum frá 1952 og þróun þeirra síðan leiddi í ljós að beinu grunnlínurnar hafa aukið stærð innsævis Íslands töluvert meira en landhelgina. Tölvuteiknuð kort gerð fyrir ritgerðina á grundvelli opinberra gagna gefa til kynna að Ísland hafi aukið tilkall sitt til hafsvæða meira með útvíkkun landhelginnar úr þremur í fjórar sjómílur 1952 en þegar landhelgin var aukin úr fjórum sjómílum í tólf árið 1958. Að auki er farið yfir reglur sem taka á beinum grunnlínum og lagt mat á tiltekna hluta íslensku grunnlínanna. Í lokin er svo kannað hvaða áhrif beinu grunnlínurnar hafa haft á rétt skipa til frjálsrar farar, á afmörkun hafsvæða og á áhrif hugsanlegrar aðildar Íslands að ESB á fiskveiðar. iii Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. ii Útdráttur .......................................................................................................................................... iii List of images ................................................................................................................................... vi List of laws ....................................................................................................................................... vii List of European Union legislation ................................................................................................ vii List of Regulations ......................................................................................................................... viii Secondary legal sources ................................................................................................................. viii International treaties ..................................................................................................................... viii Table of cases .................................................................................................................................... x 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 2. The establishment of Icelandic straight baselines ............................................................................... 3 2.1 What are baselines, and why are they important? ............................................................................ 3 2.2 Baselines and different maritime zones ......................................................................................... 4 2.3 The difference between regular and straight baselines ................................................................. 8 2.4 Icelandic baselines from 1901-1952 ............................................................................................... 8 2.5 The background to the establishment of straight baselines......................................................... 12 2.5.1 World War II and the United States .................................................................................... 13 2.5.2 Legal developments between 1948-1950 ........................................................................... 15 2.5.3 The ICJ judgment in the Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case .................................................. 16 2.6 Straight baselines established ...................................................................................................... 22 2.7 Iceland‘s arguments and reasons for drawing straight baselines ................................................. 24 3. Reactions of other states to Iceland’s decision to draw straight baselines ....................................... 26 3.1 Statements of protest and negative reactions ............................................................................. 27 3.2 Reasons for the lack of protests by other states .......................................................................... 28 3.2.1 Political climate ................................................................................................................... 28 3.2.2 Geopolitics of the Cold War ................................................................................................ 30 3.2.3 Iceland’s importance as a Western ally ............................................................................... 31 3.2.4 Iceland and the Soviet Union .............................................................................................. 31 3.3 The Landing Ban - Unofficial “protest” by the UK? ...................................................................... 31 4. Baselines across fjords and bays in the Icelandic Baseline system.................................................... 33 4.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 33 4.2 Overview of laws and other legal sources on Iceland’s baselines ................................................ 34 4.2.1 Icelandic legislation ............................................................................................................. 34 4.2.2 International law ................................................................................................................. 34 iv 4.3 The impact of the establishment of straight baselines in 1952 .................................................... 35 4.3.1 Creation of large areas of internal waters........................................................................... 35 4.4 Evolution of Icelandic straight baselines from 1952 to 2018........................................................ 36 4.4.1 1901-1950: Low-water line along the coast with three nautical mile territorial sea .......... 36 4.4.2 1950: Straight baselines drawn across the coast in the north of Iceland ........................... 37 4.4.3 1952: Straight baselines drawn around the entire coastline with a four-mile territorial sea 37 4.4.4 1958: Territorial sea expanded from four to twelwe nautical miles ................................... 38 4.4.5 2018 Baselines ..................................................................................................................... 39 4.5 Interpretation of rules governing straight baselines .................................................................... 42 4.5.1 Strict interpretation vs flexible interpretation .................................................................... 42 4.5.2 Deeply indented and cut into .............................................................................................. 43 4.5.3 Fringe of Islands .................................................................................................................