Contiguous zone, scope and legal regime

(Baonghean.vn) -Question 14. Contiguous zone, its scope and legal regime?

Reply:The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that: A sea area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea is called the contiguous zone. The contiguous zone cannot extend beyond 24 nautical miles from the baselines used to measure the breadth of the territorial sea. Thus, the contiguous zone as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has a maximum width of 12 nautical miles.

Vietnam Coast Guard, the force that enforces sovereignty over Vietnam's waters

In the contiguous zone, the coastal State has jurisdiction to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations committed within its territory or territorial sea, and to punish infringement of the said laws and regulations committed within its territory or territorial sea. In addition, Article 303 of the Convention extends the coastal State's rights over objects of a historical or archaeological nature, whereby the removal of objects from the seabed in the contiguous zone without the permission of the coastal State shall be considered as an infringement of the laws and regulations of that State within its territory or territorial sea.

Article 13 of the Law of the Sea of ​​Vietnam stipulates: "The contiguous zone is the sea area adjacent to and outside the territorial sea of ​​Vietnam, with a width of 12 nautical miles from the outer boundary of the territorial sea".

Article 14 stipulates the legal regime of Vietnam's contiguous zone as follows:

1. The State exercises sovereignty, national jurisdiction and other rights prescribed in Article 16 of this Law over the contiguous zone.

2. The State exercises control in the contiguous zone to prevent and punish violations of customs, tax, health, and immigration laws occurring within the territory or territorial waters of Vietnam.

According to Q&A on Vietnam's Law of the Sea

(To be continued)