According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a nation's internal waters include waters on the side of the baseline of a nation's territorial waters that is facing toward the land, except in archipelagic states.[1] It includes waterways such as rivers and canals, and sometimes the water within small bays.
In internal waters, sovereignty of the state is equal to that which it exercises on the mainland. The coastal state is free to make laws relating to its internal waters, regulate any use, and use any resource. In the absence of agreements to the contrary, foreign vessels have no right of passage within internal waters, and this lack of right to innocent passage is the key difference between internal waters and territorial waters.[2] The "archipelagic waters" within the outermost islands of archipelagic states are treated as internal waters with the exception that innocent passage must be allowed, although the archipelagic state may designate certain sea lanes in these waters.
When a foreign vessel is authorized to enter inland waters, it is subject to the laws of the coastal state, with one exception: the crew of the ship is subject to the law of the flag state. This extends to labor conditions as well as to crimes committed on board the ship, even if docked at a port. Offences committed in the harbor and the crimes committed there by the crew of a foreign vessel always fall in the jurisdiction of the coastal state. The coastal state can intervene in ship affairs when the master of the vessel requires intervention of the local authorities, when there is danger to the peace and security of the coastal state, or to enforce customs rules.[1]
^ abUN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Part II, Article 8 Internal waters
^UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Part II, Article 2
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a state as a single unit, with the islands and the waters within the baselines as internalwaters. Under this concept ("archipelagic doctrine"), an archipelago...
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operations in shallow waters that are under MMEA's jurisdiction. They are also tasked to do counter-terrorism missions in Malaysian waters alongside the RMN...
have land borders. However, borders along lakes, rivers, and other internalwaters are considered land borders for the purposes of this article. Longest...
known as the Northwest Passages, Northwestern Passages or the Canadian InternalWaters. For centuries, European explorers, beginning with Christopher Columbus...
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Russia. Estonian territory covers 45,335 km2 (17,504 sq mi), of which internalwaters comprise 4.6%. When including the territorial sea, the Estonian border...
northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internalwaters. The largest islands within the Kvarner are Cres, Krk, Pag, Rab and...
neutral waters as follows (article 14): Neutral waters consist of the internalwaters, territorial sea, and, where applicable, the archipelagic waters, of...
Zone surface international waters surface internalwaters territorial waters Exclusive Economic Zone international waters land territory underground Continental...
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vessels have no right of passage within internalwaters. A vessel in the high seas assumes jurisdiction under the internal laws of its flag state. Territorial...
innocent passage is not allowed, however, in internalwaters, which are enclosed bodies of water or waters landward of a chain of islands. Disagreements...
Canada, and China. Coastal/territorial waters included: 3,796,742 sq mi (9,833,517 km2) Only internalwaters included: 3,696,100 sq mi (9,572,900 km2)...
Russia's submission. Canada claims the Northwest Passage as part of its internalwaters belonging to Canada, while the United States and most maritime nations...
of operation. Transit passage rights do not extend to any state's internalwaters within a strait. The legal regime of transit passage exists for all...
Intérieure (European Code for Interior Navigation) Grand Canal (China) Internalwaters Navigability Museum of Inland Navigation (Battaglia Terme, Padua) Hunt...