Бекяшев К.А. Современный международно-правовой статус архипелага Шпицберген

Аннотация: The article contains the analysis of the actual international legal status of the Spitsbergen archipelago. The archipelago was discovered by Russian seafarers in the XIII century. Norwegian hunters appeared there in the XVIII century. The actual international legal status of the Spitsbergen archipelago was determined by the 1920 Treaty. In 1922 Norway officially claimed the Spitsbergen a part of the Norwegian territory. Simultaneously the Mining Code was adopted. 41 state including the Russian Federation is a party to the Treaty. In the legal sense the archipelago belongs to the territories with a special regime. Actually this is the only state land territory in joint use. According to the Law on the Spitsbergen the archipelago falls under the Norwegian jurisdiction. In June 1977 the Norwegian government set a 200-mile fish protection zone around the Spitsbergen. In accordance with this law Norway exerts the control over fishing in the zone. The zone was officially recognized by Finland and Canada only. The USSR and later on Russia did not officially recognize this zone. According to the Norwegian rules during the fishery in the Spitsbergen zone captains of Russian ships must take Norwegian inspectors on board and assist them in carrying out their inspections. Norwegian inspectors as a rule impose a fine on Russian ships, which is two or three times more than the same sanctions against fishermen from the EU countries. Many Russian ships are arrested and fines are imposed on them. In order to bring the situation back to normal the author of the article has elaborated a number of recommendations, among them signing a bilateral agreement on the preservation and rational use of resources and the organization of the joint control over ships. It is also recommended to turn to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) with an action of the legitimacy of setting the fish protection zone around the Spitsbergen by Norway.

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Abstract: The article contains the analysis of the actual international legal status of the Spitsbergen archipelago. The archipelago was discovered by Russian seafarers in the XIII century. Norwegian hunters appeared there in the XVIII century. The actual international legal status of the Spitsbergen archipelago was determined by the 1920 Treaty. In 1922 Norway officially claimed the Spitsbergen a part of the Norwegian territory. Simultaneously the Mining Code was adopted. 41 state including the Russian Federation is a party to the Treaty. In the legal sense the archipelago belongs to the territories with a special regime. Actually this is the only state land territory in joint use. According to the Law on the Spitsbergen the archipelago falls under the Norwegian jurisdiction. In June 1977 the Norwegian government set a 200-mile fish protection zone around the Spitsbergen. In accordance with this law Norway exerts the control over fishing in the zone. The zone was officially recognized by Finland and Canada only. The USSR and later on Russia did not officially recognize this zone. According to the Norwegian rules during the fishery in the Spitsbergen zone captains of Russian ships must take Norwegian inspectors on board and assist them in carrying out their inspections. Norwegian inspectors as a rule impose a fine on Russian ships, which is two or three times more than the same sanctions against fishermen from the EU countries. Many Russian ships are arrested and fines are imposed on them. In order to bring the situation back to normal the author of the article has elaborated a number of recommendations, among them signing a bilateral agreement on the preservation and rational use of resources and the organization of the joint control over ships. It is also recommended to turn to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) with an action of the legitimacy of setting the fish protection zone around the Spitsbergen by Norway.

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