Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part 1 The Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the Sector Theory
- 1 The origins of the sector theory
- 2 Boundary treaties as a legal basis for the sector theory
- 3 Contiguity as a basis for the sector theory
- 4 Customary law as a basis for the sector theory
- Notes
- Part 2 The Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago as Historic Waters
- Part 3 The Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Straight Baselines
- Part 4 The Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the Northwest Passage
- Notes
- General Conclusion
- Appendix A The 1825 Boundary Treaty, Great Britain and Russia
- Appendix B The 1867 Boundary Treaty, United States and Russia
- Selected bibliography
- Index
2 - Boundary treaties as a legal basis for the sector theory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part 1 The Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the Sector Theory
- 1 The origins of the sector theory
- 2 Boundary treaties as a legal basis for the sector theory
- 3 Contiguity as a basis for the sector theory
- 4 Customary law as a basis for the sector theory
- Notes
- Part 2 The Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago as Historic Waters
- Part 3 The Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Straight Baselines
- Part 4 The Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the Northwest Passage
- Notes
- General Conclusion
- Appendix A The 1825 Boundary Treaty, Great Britain and Russia
- Appendix B The 1867 Boundary Treaty, United States and Russia
- Selected bibliography
- Index
Summary
The 1825 Treaty between Great Britain and Russia, and the 1867 Treaty between the United States and Russia, have sometimes been invoked as a legal basis for the sector theory. Numerous writers and commentators have disagreed with such an interpretation of those treaties, and the matter is still the subject of controversy. This chapter examines the view of the main proponents of the boundary treaty basis and attempts a thorough analysis of the relevant provisions of those treaties.
Main proponents of boundary treaties
The main proponent of the sector theory is the Soviet writer, W. L. Lakhtine. He is also the one who tried to find a treaty basis for a full systematization of the theory in the Arctic. Before him, an American, David Hunter Miller, had given partial support to the theory and to the use of the boundary treaties for this purpose.
David Hunter Miller
Miller wrote in 1925, shortly after the Canadian Minister of the Interior, Charles Stewart, had used the sector theory to claim sovereignty right up to the Pole. Miller quoted from Article III of the 1825 Treaty which provides for the 141st degree of longitude to form the limit between the respective possessions of Russia and Great Britain in the following terms:
… la même ligne méridienne du l4èmedegré formera, dansson prolongement jusqu' à la Mer Glaciale, la limite entre les Possessions Russes et Britanniques sur le Continent de l'Amérique Nord-Ouest.
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- Canada's Arctic Waters in International Law , pp. 12 - 27Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1988