Is the eu using the snow crab to challenge norways svalbard regime. In svalbard, people have been killed on several occasions, including incidents in recent years. The svalbard treaty and the exploitation of nonliving resources. The arctic security environment has changed profoundly over the last almost 100 years since the svalbard regime is in existence and now it faces new challenges, which could not possibly be envisaged by its creators, say timo koivurova and filip holiencin from the arctic. Coal mining has historically been the dominant economic activity, and the spitzbergen treaty of 9 february 1920 gives the 45 countries that so far have ratified the treaty equal rights to exploit mineral deposits, subject to norwegian regulation. Svalbard treaty and combine the findings with the reality on the shelf. Coal mining, tourism, and international research are the major revenue sources on svalbard. Pdf the svalbard treaty and its claimed extendedreach jurisdiction incorporating both the continental shelf and exclusive. Icsid arbitrations against norway over svalbards natural resources. The legal systems of nearly all countries are generally modeled upon elements of five main types. Arlov 2016 svalbard in national and international politics.
The merger treaty, also known as the treaty of brussels, was a european treaty that unified the executive institutions of the european coal and steel community ecsc, atomic energy community euratom and the economic community eec. North korea signs svalbard treaty spitsbergen svalbard. The svalbard treaty faces new challenges arctictoday. The third part is dedicated to the svalbard treaty of 1920 which granted norway sovereignty over svalbard and other states parties certain nodiscriminatory rights. Court has dealt with the questions of the svalbard treatys area of application and the nondiscriminatory regulations applied in the fpz. As a consequence the norwegian immigration act does not apply and svalbard is held outside the. Svalbard treaty on the continental shelf and in the 200mile zone sections 4 and 5, and then put forward some possible solutions to these legal issues section 6. Currently, the dispute focuses mainly on its scope of applicability. Whether these provisions now extend to geographic areas adjacent to svalbards territorial seaspecifically to svalbards oilrich. The svalbard treaty of 1920 defines svalbard as all islands, islets and skerries from 74 to 81 north latitude, and from 10 to 35 east longitude. Spitsbergen treaty wikisource, the free online library. Feb 01, 2016 well, to start with, the svalbard treaty has not been mostly forgotten, in the past 20 years iceland, czech republic and lithuania as late as 20. By its terms, the treaty refers to the svalbard archipelago and the. The exercise of sovereignty is, however, subject to certain stipulations, and not all norwegian law applies.
Seasonal work, short contracts, hard and manual work, and low wages make the industry. Proper observance of the svalbard treaty and control to. Sh201 the history of svalbard lecture 9, 2016 thor b. Norway was granted sovereignty over the archipelago in 1920 by the. The legal status of svalbard and its competence to generate maritime zones has long been disputed. The gen ographical application of the svalbard treaty in svalbards maritime zones, i. May 03, 2020 the treaty concerning spitsbergen of 9 february 1920 declared the arctic archipelago of spitsbergen now called svalbard an overseas part of the kingdom of norway article 1. It is found that a number of parties to the svalbard treaty. The treaty regulates the demilitarisation of the archipelago. E sector line, taking into account the area governed by the svalbard treaty of 1920. Poland acceded to the svalbard treaty in the interwar period.
The svalbard treaty, one of the few intergovernmental treaties in the arctic area, has drawn global attention. However, as part of the compromise with the signatories, despite norwegian sovereignty not all norwegian law applies. It consists of a group of islands ranging from 74 to 81 north, and 10 to 34 east. Dispute over the applicable scope of the svalbard treaty. Svalbard is not a part of norway, but due to the svalbard treaty, it has the authority on the islands. This paper, from chinas perspective, combining with two ideas. The signatories were given equal rights to engage in. This was certainly not met with great public sympathy, but even norwegian officials commented that this was probably not a breach of the spitsbergen treaty. The question of the applicability of the svalbard treaty to the maritime zones off svalbard has attracted international attention for decades and concerns an unresolved legal question regarding the application of the provisions of the svalbard treaty to the adjacent maritime areas. The possibility of an arctic treaty by brit floistad and lars lothe the arctic has certain special features. Recently, the firstever treatybased arbitration against norway was registered. Pdf the geographic scope of the svalbard treaty and norwegian. The svalbard treaty originally the spitsbergen treaty recognises the sovereignty of norway over the arctic archipelago of svalbard, at the time called spitsbergen.
It consists of a group of islands ranging from 76 to 81 north, and 10 to 35 east. Pdf dispute over the applicable scope of the svalbard treaty. The constrained politics of the svalbard offshore area. While north korea is provoking the world by testing nuclear weapons and longrange missiles, the regime has signed the svalbard treaty on january 25 without much public attention. Norway and russia agree on maritime boundary in the barents. History of the european union project gutenberg self. If the political interests discussed in the preceding combine with the economic. Svalbard lufthavn, longyear is the main airport serving svalbard in norway.
Senate advice and consent to ratification february 18,1924. The present treaty will come into force, in so far as the stipulations of article 8 are concerned, from the date of its ratifications by all the signatory powers. The svalbard treaty the svalbard treaty, which was signed in paris on 9 february 1920, granted norway full and absolute sovereignty over svalbard. The history of svalbard, the svalbard treaty and norwegian svalbard. The treaty recognizes norwegian sovereignty over svalbard, but gives equal. Svalbard is an archipelago in the arctic ocean under the sovereignty of norway, but is subject to the special status granted by the svalbard treaty. Proper observance to the svalbard treaty and control to. The objective of this policy is to merge the traditional principles of state sovereignty and.
Coal mining is the dominant economic activity and a treaty of 9 february 1920 gave the 41 signatories equal rights to exploit mineral deposits, subject to norwegian regulation. This pdf file contains the north atlantic treaty, more popularly known as the washington treaty, signed by the 12 founding members of the alliance, as well as the accession protocols for the 16 countries which have joined the organization since 1949. The treaty of svalbard became effective on 14 august 1925, and according to the act of 17 july 1925, svalbard is part of the kingdom of norway. The archipelago is the northernmost part of the kingdom of norway. Getty almost 100 years after its inception, the svalbard treaty is meeting new challenges. Svalbard, an archipelago north of norway, can provide a gateway into the high north.
From terra nullius to norwegian sovereignty, oslo 1995. It is partly ice covered, it is environmentally vulnerable and subjected to rapid climate changes. The treaty was signed in brussels on 8 april 1965 and came into force on 1 july 1967. Spitsbergen, comprising, with bear island or beereneiland, all the islands. Article 1 of the svalbard treaty grants norway sovereignty over the archipelago and its territorial waters and norway holds that the archipelago constitutes a part of the natural prolongation of the mainland continental shelf and that the continental shelf therefore is subject to norwegian.
The svalbard treaty article 1 of the svalbard treaty establishes that the states parties undertake to recognise, subject to the stipulations of the present treaty, the full. Article 3 in the svalbard treaty states that citizens and companies from all treaty nations enjoy the same right of access to and residence in svalbard. Treaty signed at paris february 9,1920, with annex. The treaty between norway, the united states of america, denmark, france, italy, japan, the netherlands, great britain and ireland and the british overseas dominions and sweden concerning spitsbergen, signed in paris 9 february 1920, commonly called the svalbard treaty or the spitsbergen treaty, recognises the sovereignty of norway over the arctic archipelago of svalbard, at the time called. With regard to methods of acquisition, enjoyment and exercise of the right of owner ship of property, including mineral rights, in the territories specified in article 1, norway. There is a public discussion about this issue going on right now april 2004 in longyearbyen, initiated by a tv series that repeatetly statet svalbard is not norway. Status of spitsbergen svalbard library of congress. Morphology and sedimentation along the kongsfjord channel.
Fur each chief who signed the treaty, a dress distinguishing him as chief. The nondiscrimination requirement and geographical. The training seminars organized by the treaty section at united nations. Why has north korea suddenly ratified the svalbard treaty. This treaty, which was signed in 1920 in versailles and came into force in 1925, gave norway sovereignty over the spitsbergen archipelago the original treaty. For braves and for councillors of each chief a dress. Svalbard, a part of the kingdom of norway, including one municipality longyearbyen, lies in the arctic ocean north of mainland europe. T his paper, from chinas perspective, combining with two ideas. The nordic countries, or the nordics, are a geographical and cultural region in northern europe and the north atlantic, where they are most commonly known as norden literally the north. The land area is 61,022 km 2 23,561 sq mi, and dominated by the island of spitsbergen, which constitutes more than half the archipelago, followed by nordaustlandet and edgeoya. This entry provides the description of a countrys legal system. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available. Status of spitsbergen svalbard treatysigned atparisfebruary9,1920, with annex senate advice andconsent to ratification february 18,1924 ratifiedbythe president ofthe unitedstatesmarch4, 1924 ratification ofthe unitedstates deposited at paris april2, 1924 proclaimed bythe president ofthe unitedstatesjune 10, 1924.
The 1920 svalbard treaty conferred full and absolute sovereignty on norway but paradoxically limited that sovereignty by conferring on states party to the treaty equal enjoyment and liberty of access provisions on svalbard and in its territorial waters. Memorandum of things outside of the treaty which were promised at the treaty at the lower fort, signed the third day of august, a. The spitsbergen treaty of 1920 conferred sovereignty on norway regarding svalbard subject to the stipulations of the treaty. Sarah wolf svalbards maritime zones, their status under. It is 5 km northwest of longyearbyen on the west coast, and is the northernmost airport in the world with scheduled public flights. Further, norway claims that the spitsbergen treaty does not apply to the continental shelf. It is therefore not surprising that the question of a special arctic treaty has been raised. The 1920 svalbard treaty conferred full and absolute sovereignty on norway but paradoxically limited that sovereignty by conferring on states party to the treaty equal enjoyment and liberty of access. The main difference between norwegian and russian views on the areas around svalbard, is that while russian claims that svalbard has a shelf of its own that should be covered by the svalbard treaty, norway argues that the continental shelf is a part of mainland norways continental shelf and should be governed by the 1958 continental shelf. Legal disputes and political rivalries article pdf available in ocean development and international law 3734. Svalbard treaty does not apply beyond svalbards territorial waters viz. Polar bears in svalbard the kjell henriksen observatory.
Svalbard, a higharctic archipelago over which norway practises sovereignty in. It set out that the commission of the eec and the council of the eec. Coal mining, tourism, and international research are svalbard s major industries. Pdf the svalbard treaty, one of the few intergovernmental treaties in the. The svalbard treaty serves both as a legal platform for norways sov. The treaty section provides advice and assistance on treaty law, the depositary practice of the secretarygeneral, the registration of treaties, and the drafting of final clauses of multilateral treaties, either upon request or through its training seminars. Svalbard is an archipelago lying in the arctic ocean north of mainland europe, about midway between norway and the north pole, east of greenland.
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