The Legal Regime of Saudi Arabian Territorial Sea

The seas have performed essential functions for mankind. The most important of these are the medium of communication, a vast reservoir of resources, and continuous, almost limitless, supplies of fish as well as extensive mineral wealth. In the 17th century, some of the then-maritime powers claimed subjection of the seas to their national sovereignties. In particular, Portugal proclaimed a huge tract of high seas as part of its territorial domain. However, these claims produced counter-responses by the powerful states of North Europe which demanded freedom of the seas in order to export and expand commercial and trade relations, whereby, the doctrine of the open seas was elaborated. The high seas as res communes were made accessible to all nations and incapable of appropriations, thus, the freedom of the high seas became a basic principle of international law. Nevertheless, it was permissible for a coastal state to have a maritime belt around its coastline as its territorial waters or sea, and treat it as an integral part of its territorial domain . Thus, much of the history of international law of the sea up to the present day has centered around the extent of the territorial sea or the precise location of the dividing line between it and the high seas .