The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 (SI 1999/1126) is a statutory instrument of the United Kingdom government, defining the boundaries of

internal waters 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. It includes wa ...

territorial sea Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...

, and British fishing limits adjacent to Scotland. It was introduced in accordance with the

Scotland Act 1998 The Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament with tax varying powers and the Scottish Government (then Scottish Executive). It was o ...

, which established the devolved

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

Defining jurisdictions

The

territorial waters Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...

defined come under the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

, and are also used for defining the area of operation of the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

(including the

Marine Directorate The Scottish Government's Marine Directorate () is a directorate of the Scottish Government responsible for managing Scotland's seas and freshwater fisheries along with delivery partners NatureScot and the Scottish Environment Protection A ...

), SEPA, and other

agencies and

public bodies A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

. The territorial waters defined as ''not'' being Scottish waters come under the jurisdiction of either

English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

Northern Ireland law The law of Northern Ireland is the legal system of statute and common law operating in Northern Ireland since the partition of Ireland established Northern Ireland as a distinct jurisdiction in 1921. Before 1921, Northern Ireland was part of ...

. Because the order defines the territorial limits of the three separate

s, it comprises a piece of

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

in the

constitution of the United Kingdom The constitution of the United Kingdom comprises the written and unwritten arrangements that establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a political body. Unlike in most countries, no official attempt has been made to Co ...

Scottish waters

Scottish waters is a colloquial term which can refer to different sea areas, including: *

Internal waters 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. It includes wa ...

and

adjacent to Scotland. ("Scotland" as defined in the

) * British Fishing Limits adjacent to Scotland. ("The Scottish Zone" as defined in the

) * The UK continental shelf limits adjacent to Scotland. (Part of the "Scottish offshore marine region" as defined in the

Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (c. 23) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates "a new system of marine management". Provisions Marine Management Organisation Section 1(1) creates the Marine Management Organi ...

)

Differences with existing boundaries

The maritime boundary adopted by the order is an equidistant boundary. This differed from the boundary established by the Civil Jurisdiction (Offshore Activities) Order 1987 which defined a straight line border between Scotland and England in the North Sea along the latitude of 55° 50' 00"N. No oil fields were affected by this change as the new boundary only applied to fishing and had no impact on reserved matters. Professor Alex Kemp of the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

argued that the movement of the line did not make much difference from an economic perspective, "because heseare just a handful of fields, and o longervery important ones".

Potential implications for Scottish independence

The

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

opposed the order and the methods used to calculate the boundary in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. In 2015, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment,

Richard Lochhead Richard Neilson Lochhead (born 24 May 1969) is a Scottish politician serving as the Minister for Business and Employment since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and ...

, wrote to the

UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

requesting a review of the order. In 2001, Mahdi Zahraa of

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University, informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley (), is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and Glasgow Polytechnic (originally Glasg ...

, published a discussion paper in the ''European Journal of International Law'' detailing different methods of establishing an Anglo-Scottish marine boundary. The author notes that whilst the median line principle would apply as a starting point, a perpendicular boundary, derived from a new straight baseline on the east coast of Scotland and England, combined with an area of shared jurisdiction, would be an alternative equitable solution. Supporters of

Scottish independence Scottish independence (; ) is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaignin ...

such as

Craig Murray Craig John Murray (born 17 October 1958) is a Scottish author, human rights campaigner, journalist, and former diplomat. While he was the British ambassador to Uzbekistan (2002–2004), he exposed the violations of human rights in that count ...

have also argued for a perpendicular boundary based on a straight baseline.{{cite web, url=https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2017/01/scotlands-stolen-seas-technical-explanation/, accessdate=2021-01-06, title=Scotland's Stolen Seas: The Technical Explanation , website=craigmurray.org.uk, date=10 January 2017

References

External links

The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999Map
of the boundary defined in the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999

of debate regarding the Order in the