Natalie Klein, Professor at UNSW Faculty of Law in Sydney, at the workshop, yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
DOHA: Blocking the passage of Qatari vessels by siege countries in their territorial seas is a violation of international law, said an expert on international law yesterday. Speaking in a workshop on the implementation of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Natalie Klein, Professor of international law said that blocking of passage is a discrimination against Qatari vessels.
“Under international law, the four states (siege countries) concerned cannot block the passage of Qatari ships in their territorial seas. It’s a discrimination against Qatari vessels which is a violation of the UN Convention on the law of the sea,” Natalie Klein, Professor at UNSW Faculty of Law in Sydney told The Peninsula, speaking on the sidelines of the workshop. “They have separate rights relating to access to their ports, and there they are probably allowed to close their ports but they cannot close their territorial seas,” she added.
The two-day, being held at The Ritz Carlton Hotel, focuses on the challenges facing the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. “Their sovereignty over the territorial sea has a restriction on it for the right of innocent passage, and the right of innocent passage can not be suspended in a discriminatory way,” she added. The workshop is organised by the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Law of the Sea in partnership of the Advisory Board on Technical Aspects of the Law of the Sea of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO).
“The simple passage of a commercial ship delivering goods is an example of right of innocent passage. A commercial ship moving through should not be considered as prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal state,” she said.
Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmad bin Hassan Al Hammadi, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, said that the Committee has established a close cooperative relationship with the Advisory Board and has participated as an observer in many of its meetings and activities.
Dr Ahmad bin Hassan Al Hammadi, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, added that the number of the Convention’s parties has reached 168 countries with the European Union, and considered it a cornerstone of the development of the concept of the rule of international law, and one of the most important law-building treaties in history that was the result of painstaking negotiations involving all nations, large and small, coastal and locked, rich and poor, strong and weak, who understood the importance of applying the rule of law to the world of seas and oceans.
In the first session, chaired by Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al Thani, Director of Legal Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and member of the Committee, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, reviewed the most important efforts made by the Committee in order to implement the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani said that the Committee has prepared a draft law on the maritime areas of Qatar. One of the most important provisions of this law are identifying all the maritime areas of Qatar, determining the sovereign and territorial rights of Qatar in its maritime areas, and determining preventive and penal sanctions for those who violate the provisions of this law.
He added that the law aims to protect the marine areas of Qatar and to protect it from any pollution, aggression or attack.
Dr Mohammed Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Qatar University, and member of the permanent committee of the international law of the sea under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave a presentation on the settlement of maritime disputes in the Arabian Gulf region, in which he dealt with the legal regulation of the Arabian Gulf and mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of international disputes.
