La zona contigua. La interpretación de su régimen jurídico por la jurisprudencia internacional

Resumo

This paper studies the contiguous zone, especially considering the interpretation of its legal regime carried out by the international jurisprudence. In this regard, the following aspects are analysed: its definition, the jurisdiction of the coastal State in this maritime area, the necessary declaration of the contiguous zone and its maximum breadth, the delimitation of contiguous zones, the potential overlapping of the contiguous zone with the exclusive economic zone of a third State and the applicable confluent regime. In this sense, this study highlights the very limited number of international judgments and arbitral awards on the contiguous zone, except for the judgment delivered by the International Court of Justice in April 2022, in which the Court has uphold that 1982 Convention’s articles 33 and 303.2 declares the customary International Law applicable to the contiguous zone, both concerning the jurisdiction and regarding the maximum breadth of this maritime area. Finally, it includes some concluding remarks, and it highlights the contribution in this judgment to the interpretation and to the better understanding of the contiguous zone.