Sanitary Jurisdiction of coastal and port States: A discussion on conflicting interests and reconciliation mechanisms

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the legal aspects arising from the sanitary jurisdiction of coastal and port States against foreign merchant vessels navigating in areas under national jurisdiction. Through the interpretation of the relevant applicable law, accompanied by targeted subsidiary means, the study seeks to investigate to what extent a coastal State may interfere with the rights and freedoms that foreign merchant vessels enjoy in areas under national jurisdiction for the purpose of protecting its public health interests. The principal burden falls on the examination of how the relevant conflicting interests could be best accommodated in order to strike a fair and equitable balance between them. Towards this end, the research focuses on the examination of how the sanitary policy of coastal States interacts with the fundamental regimes governing the maritime areas under national jurisdiction. More specifically, commencing from the contiguous zone, the study proceeds with investigating how the sanitary jurisdiction interacts with the passage rights of foreign vessels (innocent and transit passage), and it continues with the legal analysis on how a port State may regulate access into its internal waters and ports by virtue of sanitary measures, both in case of normally operating vessels and vessels in distress. Ultimately, the study discusses certain elements of the proportionality principle which is estimated to form a catalytic methodological tool for the reconciliation sought.