Fisheries (United Kingdom v. Norway) - Public hearing of 20 October 1951

I.C. J.

The following informatioil fron the llegistry of the International
Court o'f Justice has been comnunicated to the Oress:

The International Couri of Justice today (~a~urday, Ociober 20Ch,
1951) held a hearing in the course of wllich Sir Zric Beckett, Agent for
the United Ili~gdoniGoverment, co~xluded that hvernixent 1s oral Reply
in the Anglo-IVorwegian Fisheries Case,

SirAric Beckett presented hEs Gosrerntnent s revised conclusion sn
the case as follows:

The United Kingdom submitsthat the Gourt should decide that the

mritiriie Limits wl-iichNorway 1s en-titleà to edorce as againsi", the
United Kingdom should be drawo iil accordance witii ths follolq6ng principles :

1) Thaihorway is entitled to a belt of territorial waters of fixed
breadth - the breadth cannot, as a mzxïrrium, excecd 4 sea miles.

(2). That, .ln consequence, the outer lidt of i\rerwayls territorial waters
must never 'ce more, thanl: sca iriles fron sor?ze poiat on the base line.

(3 ) That, sub ject to (41, (9) and (10) Golow, the base line inust be low-
water mark On permanently dry land (whj.ch Is part of Nonagian tcrritory)
or the gropcr closing Line (sce (7) bclow) of i?rori~gian interna waters.

(4) That, where these Is a low-bide elevation situatcd vcithiii 4 sea
rililes of pcrmnently drg-land,or of the !Jroper closing line of IJorwegian
internal waters, the outer limit of territorial watcrs riiay be4 sca
miles from tiie outer edge (at low tldc 1 of tiais lotr-tide elevation. ln
no other case may a low-tide elevation be takcn into account,

(5) Thai1ioiway is entitled to daim as i?iurrzregianinterna1 mters, on
historic grounds, allfjords and sunds which fa11 \.rithin the conception
of a bay as dcfined in international law (see (6) bclaw}, ruhether the
praper clasing line ol thc ind.cntztion j.s :fior&91-losç thzn 10 sea milas
long.

(6) That the definltian of e bay in intern~tionel lati is a 1.~211-marked
indentation, i;rhoae pcnetration tnland is in such proportion ta the widtn

of its mouth as to constitute the indentation rmre thana merc curvaturz
of the coast.

(7) Tl-iat,rdhere an arca of watsr is a bag, the principla which determines
whese the closing line shoula bc dr~m, is that th2 closing Illie should
be clraw betw~en the natural gcographicsc lntrcnce points, rherc the
indentation ceases to havc the configuration of a hay,,

(6) That a legal strait iç any gaogrnphical strait which connccts trm
portions of the high seas.

(9) (a) That b~orway 5s cntltlod to clairizas iiorwegian territorial waters,
on Nstoric grouzids, a11 thewaters of tllc fjords and sunds wkich have t'ne
character of a legal strait.

(b) Frnorc thc mzritiiw bclts drzm f'rolncnch shorc ovcrlap at
eac1.iend of the strait, the limit cf t~rrftorial. m.tzln~ 1s forrnzd bzr the
outer rins of those two maritims bclts. :ihl-icrhowcver, the maritinle
belts so drawn da not ovcrlap, the limit follo~rs outcr rim of each
of thcsa two maritime belts, until thcy intcracc-L with the siraight lifie,
joining the ixtu-ral entrance ?oints of thc strait, aiter which intcrscction
the limit follows that straight linc. Thai;, in the case of the Vestïjord, the outer liiict af i4orwegian
territorial wzters st the south-~rcsterly end of the fjord Is khe

Pecked Greea Line shown on Charts Ihs . 2 ai~d 9 of Anne?: 35 of the Rcply,

(11) Tkat l\larwa?;,y re3son of :le;^ historic titleto fjords arid sunds
(See (5) and (va) above), Iv entitled to claini, e5i;l.ieas internal or
as territorial i.i.at,erthv areas of vater lyin~; be2~%reenthe islandfringe
and the iminlafid of Norway. In ordzr to 6eterm1ne what area.s must be
de~mvd 'co lie bt:.tweenthe islaiid Tringe and the mainland, and tqhether
these areas are intzrnal or,ter'ritor-i.~lvtateï~, the principles of (61, (7)
(E) and (9)(b) mdst bc applied tc indentatmtons in theisland fFinge and to
indentations between the island friage and tha minland - thoso 3reas,
character 02 bays, and within the
whlch lie ic?indentations having tho
proper closing lines thereof, bcing decnzd to bc internal wate:-s and
thosc areas, ifhich lie in indentatiürls hnvln~ the charac5cr of legal
straits,and within t1ic proper liilits thcreof, b5ng deained ta bc
territorial 1~atz~s.

(12) That IVorway is riot entltled, as agair1s-L bhz Unitcd Kingdam, to
enforcc any çlains Lo wzters nat cov~rod by tho sreceding principlcs,
-4s betwmn i\iorway and thc Unitcd I(ingdoii1waters off the coast of ?~Tomay
north oî paralle1 46' 28.87 N., which are riot Norvegian by vrirtue of the
above-mcntioried principle~ arc higlz seas.

(14) That thc Itor~vgian Royal 3ccree of 12t: JuLy, 1435, is not cnforceaJd 4
agains t the United iCingdom to the cxtent thnt it clairïis as PJorwogian wakr~
(internal or turritarial wateers}, arecs of hratcr not covcrzd bu- (1) - (ll) .

(lk) Shat iVorway is under an intzrnational obligation to pay io the Unitsd
Iilngdom comp~i~sation ilî _espcct of sll the .,ri-ests since 16th Ssptcmber,
194-9 of British fishlng vesscls in raters whlcli are hiph scas ki5-virtue
of th2 application of Lhe pre ceding princisle S.

-ltcrnaiivclg to hios. (1) to (:L3) (if tbc Court should decide to
dotermina by iis judgment the cwct limits of the tcrritorial waters which
~Jorway is zi~Citlcd to cnforce against the United Eiii~gdom), thet i'jorwayis
not entitled as against the United Ktngdun. ta cIai:. as i\Tur6Tan IEL~CI-Sany
areas of wster off th? iaorwsgian coasts nur-ti!oî paranel 66 28.81 iij1,~hich
arc ou'csidc th Pccked Green Line drawn oh th;: charts vrhicn f0rm Amcx 35
to th? Rcply.

Alternativcly to iiJos.(6) ta (11)(il the Court should hold that khc
ttators af tha Indrcleia arc Ihrwzgiaîi interna iaters ), th2 fallowing ara
substitutef dor ibs. (8) to (11):

1. That,in the cnsa of the Vestf jord,thc outar linut of Korrl~egian
tcrritorial raters at thé south-w~stcrl dynd of the Yjord is a linc dram
& sea miles çcawardsof a line joining the S!:omvaer lighthozise at i2os.t
to Kslsholrncn ligi?thousc in Tcnnhoh1.n mtxl the intersection of the
former llnc with th mes of circles in the Pccked Green Line shom on
Charts and 9 of Anne;: 75 of tha %piy.

II. That ldormy, bjrrcason ar"hur historie tlile t~ fjords 2nd sundsis
cntitled to claim as intcrnnl. watersthe areasof riater ï;lri_gbe-l~~ei~thc
islnnd fringi;: 2nd thc imiizland of iilor~~ay. In ofder to detorrnine wl~et srcss
must bc ùçcLisd to lie bétwcen thc.island fringc and the nainland,
princi!~las of Mos. (6) and (71 abovù, nust be applicd ta the indefitations rin

the islz-nd fringe nnf.to the ind.ontutions bctwcen the island fringc end the
rminland - th os^? czrcTbs r4hiclie in iricleritatio~stzaving the cj?arc..cter of
bzys and wrlihiiî the -1ropcr closiilg lbnes thùréof, king Gceiiiiïto lic
betwscnihc lslnnd fringo and the r;i~inland,

On iiic rocpcst of Nr. Arntzcn, Agent f'02 the IJorwogian Govcrrmnt, the
nex+ huarinz of the Court will be hcld on lJ~ci.ricsdayOctob~r 24ti1, 2% 4 p.rn,
At th3.t time the Agcnt zï~dCOWSZ~of tl~û FJcicri*~giGovernment will bcgin
thsiroral :?jolnder, r.t bhe end of whicn ti~é oral proeeudings in the
Fishcrics CnsL:will i;crniii~ate.