Enforcement: Flag, Coastal and Port State

In one line

Making a rule is one thing and stopping a ship is another, and articles 213 to 222 divide the power to stop a ship among the flag State, the coastal State and the port State.

In exam wording: articles 213 to 222 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 allocate enforcement of the anti-pollution rules: article 217 to the flag State, article 218 to the port State, articles 219 and 220 to the port and coastal State in respect of vessels, and articles 213 to 216 and 222 to States in respect of the other sources; article 218 permits a port State to investigate and institute proceedings in respect of a discharge outside its own waters, which is the Convention's answer to the weakness of flag State enforcement.

The three enforcement jurisdictions

Flag State. The State whose flag the ship flies. It may enforce anywhere, and it is the only State that may enforce on the high seas.

Coastal State. The State in whose territorial sea or exclusive economic zone the violation occurred. Its powers are graduated by where the ship is and how serious the discharge.

Port State. The State in whose port the ship voluntarily is. It may enforce in respect of discharges anywhere, including on the high seas.

Those three, and their overlaps, are the architecture of marine environmental enforcement.

The source-by-source articles

Article 213: land-based sources. States shall enforce their laws adopted under article 207 and shall adopt laws and take other measures necessary to implement applicable international rules and standards.

Article 214: seabed activities. The same, for laws adopted under article 208.

Article 215: activities in the Area. Enforcement of the international rules established under Part XI is governed by that Part.

Article 216: dumping. Enforcement shall be undertaken by the coastal State with regard to dumping within its territorial sea, exclusive economic zone or onto its continental shelf; by the flag State with regard to vessels flying its flag or of its registry; and by any State with regard to acts of loading of wastes occurring within its territory or at its offshore terminals.

That third limb is unusually wide and is worth noting: any State may act against loading in its own territory, whatever happens afterwards.

Article 222: pollution from or through the atmosphere. States shall enforce, within the air space under their sovereignty or with regard to vessels or aircraft flying their flag or of their registry, their laws adopted in accordance with article 212 and other provisions.

Article 217: enforcement by flag States

Paragraph 1: States shall ensure compliance by vessels flying their flag with applicable international rules and standards and with their own laws, and shall adopt laws and take other measures for their implementation, irrespective of where a violation occurs.