Decree of the Minister for Foreign Affairs No. 92 / 1964 Coll.
Decree of the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the High Sea Convention
Valid
Effective from 30.09.1962
92
DECLARATION
Minister for Foreign Affairs
of 6 May 1964
on the High Sea Convention
The Convention on the High Sea was negotiated in Geneva on 29 April 1958. On behalf of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the Convention was signed in New York on 30 October 1958. When signing the Convention, a reservation was made to Article 9 of the Convention and a declaration was attached to the provisions defining the concept of piracy.
The High Sea Convention was agreed by the Government on 26 April 1961 and the National Assembly on 26 June 1961. The President of the Republic ratified the Convention on 13 July 1961.
The Czechoslovak instrument of ratification to the High Sea Convention was deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations - depositary of the Convention - on 31 August 1961.
The Convention entered into force on 30 September 1962 on the basis of its Article 34 (1) and entered into force on that date for the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.
The Czech translation of the Convention is being announced simultaneously.
David v. r.
CONVENTION ON THE FREE SEA
States Parties to this Convention,
Desiring to codify the rules of international law concerning the high seas,
Recognising that the following provisions, adopted by the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in Geneva from 24 February to 27 April 1958, constitute, in substance, an expression of the principles of international law in force,
agree on the following provisions:
The term "open sea 'applies to all parts of the sea which are not included in coastal waters or inland waters of a State.
The free sea is open to all nations, and no state can validly take the right to subject any part of its sovereignty. Freedom of the free sea shall apply under the conditions laid down in these Articles and other rules of international law. It shall include for both coastal and inland States, inter alia:
1. freedom of navigation;
2. freedom of fishing;
3. freedom to lay underwater cables and pipes;
4. freedom to fly over the free sea.
These freedoms, as well as other freedoms recognised by the general principles of international law, will be used by all States with reasonable regard for the interests of other States when using the freedom of the free sea.
1. In order to enjoy the freedom of the sea under the same conditions as coastal states, inland states should have free access to the sea. To this end, States between the sea and the inland State shall, in common agreement with it and in agreement with the international conventions in force:
(a) free transit through their territory to the inland State on the basis of reciprocity;
(b) vessels flying the flag of that State shall have the same treatment as their own ships or ships of any other State as regards access to and use of seaports.
2. The States between the sea and the inland State will, by common agreement with it, take into account the rights of the coastal or transit State and the special conditions of the inland State, address all issues relating to the freedom of transit and equal treatment in ports where those States are no longer parties to the international conventions in force.
Each State, whether coastal or inland, has the right to ships flying its flag on the high seas.
1. Each State shall lay down the conditions for granting jurisdiction to ships for the matriculation of ships on its territory and for the right to fly its flag. Ships shall have the jurisdiction of the State whose flag they are authorised to sail. There must be a real bond between the state and the ship; in particular, the State must effectively apply its jurisdiction and control in the administrative, technical and social fields to ships flying its flag.
2. Each State shall issue appropriate documents to ships to which it has granted the right to fly its flag.
1. Ships shall fly the flag of only one State and, except in exceptional cases, expressly provided for in international treaties or in these Articles, shall be subject to its exclusive jurisdiction on the high seas. During a journey or stop in a port, the ship may not change its flag except in the case of actual transfer of ownership or change of imatriculation.
2. A ship flying the flag of two or more States which it uses as it pleases may not apply any of these nationality to any third State and may be considered a ship of independence.
The provisions of the previous Articles do not affect the issue of ships used for official purposes by an intergovernmental organisation flying the flag of that organisation.
1. Warships shall enjoy full immunity from the jurisdiction of States other than those whose flag they fly on the high seas.
2. For the purposes of these Articles, the term "warship" shall mean a ship belonging to a State's warships carrying the external registration of warships of its nationality under the authority of an officer appointed by a government whose name is included in the list of officers of the warship and with a crew subject to ordinary military maritime discipline.
Ships whose owner or operator is a State and which are only used for non-commercial government service shall be fully exempt from the jurisdiction of any State other than the flag State on the high seas.
1. Each State shall take the necessary measures to ensure safety at sea as regards ships flying its flag, in particular as regards:
(a) the use of signals, maintaining connections and preventing collisions;
(b) the composition and working conditions of the crews, taking into account the international documents in force relating to work issues;
(c) the structure and equipment of the ship and its seaworthiness.
2. When implementing these measures, each State shall comply with the generally adopted international standards and take all necessary measures to ensure that they are complied with.
1. In the event of a collision or any other seagoing accident in the course of a high-seas ship which creates criminal or disciplinary liability for the captain or any other person on duty on board, criminal or disciplinary proceedings may not be initiated against such persons, except before the judicial or administrative authorities of either the State whose flag the ship was flying or the State of which that person is a national.
2. In disciplinary matters, the State which issued the master licence or certificate of competence or authorisation shall be the only competent authority to decide on the withdrawal of such documents after due legal proceedings, even if their owner is not a national of the State which issued them.
3. No authorities other than the authorities of the flag State may order the seizure or detention of the ship, including for investigation purposes.
1. Each State shall require the skipper of a ship flying its flag to do so without serious threat to the ship, crew or passengers:
(a) provide assistance to any person found at sea who is in danger of life;
(b) with the greatest speed, it has set out to rescue those who are in danger if it is known that they need assistance if such action can reasonably be expected;
(c) after the collision, provide assistance to the other ship, its crew and its passengers and, where possible, communicate the other ship's name to its own ship, its home port and the nearest port to which it goes.
2. All coastal States will assist in the establishment and maintenance of adequate and effective search and rescue services to ensure safety at sea and above sea - and where circumstances so require - they will negotiate regional cooperation agreements with neighbouring States to this end.
Each State shall take effective measures to prevent and punish the transport of slaves on ships authorised to fly its flag and to prevent the misuse of its flag for that purpose. Every slave who resorts aboard a ship, no matter what flag it is flying, gets ipso de facto freedom.
All States are obliged to cooperate as much as possible to combat piracy on the high seas or any other place outside the jurisdiction of any State.
The following acts shall be considered piracy:
1. Any unlawful act of violence, detention or any act of robbery committed for private purposes by crew or passengers of a private ship or private aircraft and directed:
(a) on the high seas against another ship or aeroplane or against persons or property on board it;
(b) against a ship, aeroplane, person or property, in place, outside the jurisdiction of any State;
2. Any act of voluntary participation in the use of a ship or aeroplane if the perpetrator is aware of the facts which implicate that ship or aircraft in the character of a pirate ship or pirate aircraft.
3. Any act intended to encourage or facilitate, intentionally, the act referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 of this Article or committed with the intention of facilitating it.
Pirate acts, as defined in Article 15, and committed by a warship or a state ship or a state aircraft which has been taken over by a rebel crew shall be deemed to have been committed by a private ship.
Ships or aeroplanes designated by the persons under their effective control shall be deemed to be pirates to commit any of the acts referred to in Article 15. The same applies if the ships or aeroplanes used to commit such acts are under the control of the persons who committed such acts.
A ship or aeroplane may retain its nationality even if it is transformed into a pirate ship or aeroplane. The retention or loss of nationality shall be determined by the law of the State which granted the original nationality.
On the high seas or at any other place outside the jurisdiction of any State, any State may confiscate a pirate ship or aircraft, or a pirate ship which is in the power of pirates and arrest persons and confiscate property on board that ship or aeroplane. The courts of the State of seizure may decide on the penalties to be imposed and on the measures to be taken in respect of ships, aeroplanes and property, subject to the rights of third parties acting in bona fide.
In the event that the seizure of a ship or aircraft suspected of piracy has been carried out without sufficient reason, the State which seized it shall be responsible to the State whose nationality the ship or aircraft was owned for any loss or damage caused by seizure.
Confiscation on the grounds of piracy may be carried out only by warships or military aircraft or by other vessels or aircraft in the civil service authorised for that purpose.
1. Except where acts of interference are based on the rights of the contract, a warship which meets a foreign merchant ship on the high seas may not carry out an identification of that ship unless there is reasonable suspicion that:
(a) that ship operates piracy or that:
(b) the ship operates a slave trade, or
(c) a ship flying a foreign flag or refusing to raise its flag has in fact the same nationality as a warship.
In the cases referred to in subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c), a warship may proceed to verify the ship's right to the flag. To that end, he can send a boat to a suspicious ship under the command of an officer. If the suspicion persists after examination of the documents, it may proceed to further inspection on board the ship, with all possible consideration being kept.
3. If it appears that the suspicion was unjustified and that the detained ship has not committed any act to justify such a suspicion, it must be compensated for any loss or damage it has suffered.
1. The pursuit of a foreign ship may be undertaken if the competent authorities of a coastal State reasonably believe that the ship has infringed the laws and regulations of that State. Such persecution must be initiated when the alien ship or one of its boats is inside inland waters, in coastal waters or in a continuous pursuit state zone, and may continue outside the coastal waters or zones contiguous only on condition that it has not been interrupted. It is not necessary for a ship that orders foreign ships sailing in coastal waters or in a continuous zone to stop there to also be there when that ship receives this order. If there is an alien ship within a continuous zone as defined in Article 24 of the Convention on Coastal Waters and the Coastal Zone, persecution may only be initiated if there has been a breach of the rights which the zone has established.
2. The right of persecution shall cease when the persecuted ship enters the coastal waters of its own country or of a third State.
3. The pursuit shall be deemed to have commenced only on condition that the following vessel has been satisfied by the appropriate means at its disposal that the pursued ship or one of its ships or other boats forming a group and using the pursued ship as a parent ship are within the boundaries of coastal waters or, where appropriate, in a continuous zone. The pursuit can only be initiated after a visual or audible stop signal has been given from a distance allowing the ship to see or hear it.
4. The right of persecution may be exercised only by warships or military aeroplanes or other vessels or aircraft intended for public service and, in particular, by those authorised for that purpose.
5. If the pursuit is carried out by aeroplane:
(a) the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article shall apply to this method of persecution;
(b) the aeroplane giving the stop order must pursue the ship actively until a ship or aeroplane of a coastal State, called by the aeroplane, is in place to continue pursuit if the aeroplane itself is unable to intercept the ship. In order to justify the suspension of a ship on the high seas, it is not sufficient for the aeroplane to only discover that the ship has committed an offence or is suspected of an infringement, unless the ship has been ordered to stop and has been persecuted by that aeroplane or other aircraft or ships which continue to pursue it without interruption.
6. The release of a ship detained on a site under the jurisdiction of a State and escorted to a port of that State for the purpose of an investigation before the competent authorities cannot be required for the sole reason that the ship and its escort have sailed through a part of the free sea when circumstances have called for such passage.
7. If a ship has been stopped or detained on the high seas in circumstances which do not justify the exercise of the right of persecution, it shall be compensated for any loss or damage caused to it.
Each State shall issue regulations to prevent pollution of the seas by propellants discharged from ships or long-distance pipelines or originating from the extraction and exploration of the seabed and its underground, bearing in mind the contractual provisions in force on this matter.
1. Each State shall take measures to prevent pollution of the seas by discharges of radioactive waste, taking into account all standards and regulations which may be developed by the competent international organisations.
2. All States shall cooperate with the relevant international organisations to take measures to prevent pollution of the seas or airspace above them from any activity involving the use of radioactive material or other harmful agents.
1. All states have the right to put underwater cables and long-distance pipelines at the bottom of the high seas.
2. Subject to its right to take reasonable measures for the exploration and extraction of land-land shallows, the coastal State shall not prevent the laying or maintenance of such cables or pipelines.
3. When laying these cables or pipes, the State must take due account of the cables and pipes already laid on the seabed. In particular, it shall not prevent the repair of existing cables or pipes.
Each Member State shall take the necessary legislative measures to ensure that the interruption or damage to an undersea cable under the open sea caused by the deliberate or gross negligence of a ship flying its flag or by a person under its jurisdiction, which could result in the interruption or disruption of a telegraphic or telephone link, as well as the interruption or damage of a high voltage or long-distance cable under the same conditions, is considered a criminal offence. This provision shall not apply to interruption or damage caused by persons who would only pursue their legitimate objective of protecting their life or the safety of their ships, taking all necessary measures to prevent such interruption or damage.
Each State shall take the necessary legislative measures to ensure that persons subject to its jurisdiction who are owners of a cable or a long-distance pipeline on the high seas and who, when placing or repairing such a cable or pipe, cause interruption or damage to another cable or pipe, bear the costs associated with its repair.
Each State is obliged to take the necessary legislative measures to ensure that shipowners who can prove that they have sacrificed an anchor, net or other fishing gear in order to prevent damage to the marine cable or pipeline are compensated by the owner of the cable or pipeline, provided that they have taken all reasonable measures before to prevent it.
The provisions of this Convention shall not prejudice the conventions or other international agreements already in force between States participating therein.
This Convention shall be open for signature by 31 October 1958 to all Member States of the United Nations or to certain professional organisations, as well as to any other State invited by the General Assembly of the United Nations to become a Contracting Party to this Convention.
This Convention shall be ratified. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
This Convention shall be open to access by any State belonging to one of the categories referred to in Article 31. The instruments of access shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
1. This Convention shall enter into force on the 30th day following the date of deposit of the 22nd instrument of ratification or accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
2. For each State which ratifies or accedes to the Convention after the deposit of the 22nd instrument of ratification or accession, the Convention shall become applicable on the 30th day following the deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession.
1. On expiry of the five-year period from the date of entry into force of this Convention, a request for revision of this Convention may be made at any time and by any Contracting Party by written communication addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
2. The General Assembly of the United Nations shall decide on any measures to be taken in connection with such a request.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all Member States of the United Nations and the other States referred to in Article 31:
(a) the signatures annexed to this Convention and the deposit of instruments of ratification and accession pursuant to Articles 31, 32 and 33;
(b) the date of entry into force of this Convention pursuant to Article 34;
(c) requests for revision pursuant to Article 35.
The original of this Convention, the English, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish texts of which are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall send certified copies to all States referred to in Article 31.
To prove this, the signed agents, duly mandated by their governments, have signed this Convention.
Dane in Geneva, the twenty-ninth of April a thousand nine hundred fifty-eight.
Note: When signing the Convention, Czechoslovakia has made a reservation to Article 9 of the Convention: "The Czechoslovak Republic considers that, under applicable international law, other vessels used for commercial purposes also enjoy full exemption from the jurisdiction of any State other than the flag State on the high seas." It also made the following statement: "The Czechoslovak Republic considers that the concept of piracy, as defined in the Convention, does not comply with current international law or the interests of ensuring freedom of navigation on the high seas."
Sign in for notes, favorites and notifications
Regulation Information
| Citation | Decree of the Minister for Foreign Affairs No. 92 / 1964 Coll., on the High Sea Convention |
|---|---|
| Regulation Type | - |
| Author | - |
| Collection | Code of Laws |
| Date of Promulgation | 05.06.1964 |
|---|---|
| Effective from | 30.09.1962 |
| Effective until | - |
| Status | Valid |
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
Comments 0