Category: internal waters and baseline legal aspects

Article 13(1) of the LOSC defines low-tide elevations as follows:
A low-tide elevation is a naturally formed area of land which is surrounded by and above water at low tide but submerged at high tide.
This provision further provides: ‘Where a low-tide elevation is situated wholly or partly at a distance not exceeding the breadth of the territorial sea from the mainland or an island, the low-water line on that elevation may be used as the baseline for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea’. Where a low-tide elevation is wholly situated outside the territorial sea, however, it has no territorial sea of its own. The ICJ has held that Article 13 reflects customary international law. Considering that low-tide elevations may have an impact on identifying the outer limits of marine spaces under national jurisdiction, such elevations have practical importance for the coastal State.. what the mean of LOW-TIDE ELEVATIONS in the law of the sea and case, Anglo-French Continental Shelf Arbitration, Article 13 of the LOSC, China Sea Arbitration, Eddystone Rocks, Fasht al Azm, Gaven Reef (South), Hughes Reef, low-tide elevations, Mischief Reef, Qit ’at Jaradah, Subi Reef