This chapter considers four aspects of the doctrine of historic waters: (1) the origin and recognition of historic waters; (2) the legal status of historic waters; (3) the present role of historic waters; and (4) historic waters and related doctrines.

Origin and recognition of historic waters

The doctrine of historic waters developed from that of historic bays which had emerged during the 19th century for the protection of certain large bays closely linked to the surrounding land area and traditionally considered by claiming States as part of their national territory. Those bays were often expressed to be of vital importance from the economic and national security standpoints. As rules relating to the delimitation of maritime areas developed, the idea of claiming bays on the basis of an historic title was extended to other areas of the sea adjacent to the coast.

The nature of historic waters in international law was never spelled out in any convention. In 1958, it was the view of the International Law Commission's Special Rapporteur on the Law of the Sea, Mr Francois, that the Commission did not have sufficient material at its disposal to formulate principles on the matter. Safeguard provisions, however, were inserted in the Convention on the Territorial Sea, thus recognizing the legitimacy of both historic bays and historic waters. Provisions for both cases, however, were formulated as exceptions to the general rules for drawing territorial waters. It was specified that the rules relating to the maximum 24-mile closing line for bays ‘… do no apply to so-called “historic bays”’.