Jamaica's Sovereign Rights in Territorial Waters: A Study of Maritime Law

Running head: Jamaica and Territorial Waters Sovereignty
Maritime Law:
Name of Student:
Name of Institution:
Instructor:

Jamaica and Territorial Waters Sovereignty 2
Whether Jamaica possesses sovereign rights in its territorial waters
Introduction
Territorial water is used to describe water bodies over which a state has jurisdiction over.
These include internal water bodies as well as the continental shelf; the territorial sea as well as
the economic zone that is mentioned and provided for under the United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Sovereignty and territorial waters
Most countries claim territorial waters along the sea. Territorial sea refers to a zone that
stretches from the low watermark up to 12 nautical miles. This is a zone of territorial sovereignty
which is considered as part of a state. Under the Montego Bay Convention of 1982 as well as the
Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone, there is a proviso that permits
foreign ships to pass innocently across a territorial sea belonging to another state without
breaching sovereignty (Rothwell & Stephens, 2016, p. 21).
Warships are however not permitted to exercise a right to innocently pass as a result of
the threatening impacts on smaller coastal states.
Jamaican Status
Jamaica is considered as an archipelagic state. This gives it an additional zone, the
archipelagic water which is interposed between the internal waters and an adjacent territorial sea.
The archipelagic waters in Jamaica extend from Pedro Cays and an additional 12-mile territorial
sea. Jamaica therefore has the right to claim to lay claims over vast areas of water.
Jamaica also has a contiguous zone which extends to approximately188 miles. Any
coastal state has a sovereign right over such zones, allowing it to exploit and explore all the
living and non-living resources found in this zone.