Territorial sea allows a Contracting State to establish prohibited or restricted areas “over its territory”. A Contracting State’s territory is defined in Article 2 of the Chicago Convention. As clarified in Chapter I, “territory” in the Chicago Convention means the land areas and territorial waters adjacent thereto under the sovereignty.36 Land areas under sovereignty are relatively easy to ascertain because countries hold boundaries among themselves, although there exist undetermined territories.37 Compared to land areas, it is more complicated with “territorial waters adjacent thereto under the sovereignty”. The term “territorial water” in the Chicago Convention does not have the same meaning as the term “territorial sea” as often mentioned in the law of the sea.38 Rather, 36 See X. Xxxx, The US/China Aviation Collision Incident at Hainan in April 2001 – China’s Perspect- ive, 51 Zeitschrift für Xxxx- und Weltraumrecht (2002), p. 557; X. Xxxxxxxx, Sovereignty and the Chicago Convention: English Court of Appeal Rules on the Northern Cyprus Question, XXXVI
Territorial sea. The territorial sea is the belt of sea adjacent to the coast of the coastal state (Art. 2 UNCLOS). The breadth of the territorial sea is 12 nautical miles (22 km) measured from the baseline (Art. 3-4 UNCLOS). Although the territorial sea is not considered to be part of the coastal state territory, the coastal state has full sovereignty in the territorial sea.
Territorial sea. This is the zone lying immediately seaward of the baseline.37 States must actively claim a territorial sea, to include its breadth (i.e., it does not exist until claimed by the coastal State). The maximum breadth is 12 NM.38 Most States, including the United States, have claimed the full 12 NM. Some States have claimed less than 12 NM, and some have made excessive claims of greater than 12 NM.39
Territorial sea. As noted above, the navigational regime in the territorial sea permits greater navigational freedom than that available within the land territory or inland waters of the coastal State. Therefore, the State competency within the territorial sea is somewhat less than full sovereignty.
