File 4480/1923 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf: Naval Incidents: Visits of British Warships to Persian Ports: Persian Territorial Waters Bill.’ [‎534v] (1081/1662)

Where such circumstances arise, it is the duty of any foreign State to come to
an agreement enabling the State concerned to exercise such rights of control over
the merchant vessels of the foreign State concluding the agreement as may be
necessary. For a State to refuse to enter into an agreement of this kind would be
to show an entire absence of the consideration for the rights of other States up
which the solidarity of nations depends.
(e .)—{!.) A convention fixing a uniform breadth of 3 miles for all States and
for all purposes is both possible and desirable.
(2.) His Majesty’s Government in Great Britain are not aware of any special
circumstances which would justify or necessitate the fixing of some distance other
than 3 miles as the width of' the belt of territorial waters for any particular States.
(3.) Arrangements of the kind suggested in III (d) should be embodied in
bilateral conventions between the States concerned. . There is no need for a
multilateral convention. It is only in rare cases that circumstances would require
the conclusion of a special arrangement of this sort; and the terms of the arrange
ment should be varied to meet the needs of the particular case
Determination of the Base Line.
IV.—Along the coasts the base line is the line of mean low-water spring
tides, following the sinuosities of the coast, and not a line drawn from point to point,
either of the coast or islands or rocks. Consequently, distance between islands and
the coast is not to be taken into account in this connexion. A belt of territorial
waters will be measured from low-water on the islands in the same way that it is
measured along the coasts.
(b.) In front of bays the base line from which the territorial waters are measured
passes across the mouth of the bay from the land on one side to the land on the other
side . , ' ' ^
A bay for this purpose is something more pronounced than a mere curvature of
the coast. There must be a distinct and well-defined inlet, moderate in size, and long
in proportion to its width.
The question of the breadth of a bay arose in the North Atlantic Fisheries
Arbitration at The Hague in 1910. The Tribunal there decided that in the case
of a bay the belt of territorial waters must be measured from a line drawn across
the body of water at the place where it ceased to have the configuration and
characteristics of a bay A Realising that this decision would in practice be
insufficient to define the rights of the parties and to prevent future difficulties wi
1 , ^i n respect ol
regard to the fisheries, the Tribunal, basing itself on various treaties
fisheries to which Great Britain was a party, recommended that in general the base
line should be drawn across the bay in the part nearest the entrance or mouth at e
first point where the width did not exceed 10 miles. . ,
The recommendations of the Tribunal were accepted by both parties to
dispute and have since been enforced in the area to which they apply. .
His Majesty’s Government in Great Britain believe that it is logical to res n
the application of the special rule as to bays, under which the base lino is drawn
' - - - - - - * than 6 miles wide at
across the mouth of the bay, to cases where the bay is not more than 6 m Oes
the mouthy as it is only in these cases that the bay is wholly enclosed by the two
of territorial waters measured from the opposite shores. It may be argued, ow >
that no such rule has as yet met with universal acceptance, and, therefore, i a
similar to the recommendations of the Tribunal in the North Atlantic
Arbitration and to the rule adopted in some of the fishery treaties to whic
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Britain is a party met with general acceptance, they would be prepared to
By general acquiescence certain historic bays have been recognised as o ^
part of the national territory, even though their width exceeds^ that mdica^^.^.^
earlier part of the answer on this point. In the case of such bays the f er ^. ge( j
waters are measured from a base line passing across the bay at the place rec g
as forming the limits of the national territory. mtorial
In the case of bays whose coasts belong to two or more States, the e
waters are measured from low water and follow the sinuosities of the coas . are
(c.) In front of ports the base line from which the territorial wa , 0I1
measured passes across the entrance from the outermost point or harbour
one side to the outermost point or harbour work on the other side.
The word “port” in this connexion is used in its ordinary
Answer to Question 5 ; Award. (Cd. 5396.)