International Legal Regime of the Arctic Waters and Continental Shelf

This graduate paper is aimed at identifying and considering the legal status of the Arctic waters and continental shelf as well as the legal regime of various activities in the Arctic. From the research, the following conclusions were drawn: firstly, the sectoral method is applicable only to the land territories of the Arctic, the application of this method to the waters and the continental shelf of the Arctic is highly improbable; secondly, the legal status of the waters and the continental shelf in the Arctic is established by the principles and rules of general international law, which are enshrined in the Geneva Conventions on the Law of the Sea of 1958 and in the UNCLOS of 1982, that contain general rules of maritime law for the whole World Ocean; thirdly, the Geneva Conventions on the Law of the Sea of 1958 and the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea of 1982 do not contain specific rules on the legal regime of the Arctic region; fourthly, art. 234 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea of 1982 is crucial for determining the regime of the Arctic waters, as the Arctic basin is characterised by its high rate of sensitivity to negative impacts and fragility of biological and ecological systems; fifthly, the status of the common heritage of mankind can be applied only to The Area of the Arctic seabed, but not to the high seas; sixthly, the ice in the Arctic has the same legal regime as waters, however, icebergs are an exception from that rule; seventhly, any change of the Arctic continental shelf outer limit is carried out with the participation of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf; eighthly, nowadays there is a number of problems concerning the delimitation of continental shelf and exclusive economic zones between States with adjacent or opposite continental shelf and exclusive economic zones; ninthly, the delimitation of the disputed territories in the Arctic should be resolved by concluding an agreement.