Three-mile limit

Three-mile limit

The three-mile limit refers to a traditional and now largely obsolete conception of the international law of the seas which defined a country's territorial waters, for the purposes of trade regulation and exclusivity, as extending as far as the reach of cannons fired from land.

In "Mare clausum" (1635) John Selden endeavoured to prove that the sea was in practice virtually as capable of appropriation as terrestrial territory. As conflicting claims grew out of the controversy, maritime states came to moderate their demands and base their maritime claims on the principle that it extended seawards from land. A workable formula was found by Cornelius Bynkershoek in his "De dominio maris" (1702), restricting maritime dominion to the actual distance within which cannon range could effectively protect it. Most maritime nations adopted this principle, which developed into a limit of three nautical miles.

Since the mid-20th century, numerous nations have claimed territorial waters well beyond the traditional three-mile (5 km) limit. Commonly these maritime territories extend convert|12|nmi|km from a coastline, and this was eventually established as the international norm by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. As a result, the three-mile limit has become largely obsolete. As of 2007, only Jordan, Palau, and Singapore retain it.

ee also

* Admiralty law
* Hugo Grotius
* Gambling ship


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  • three-mile limit — [thrē′mīl′] n. the outer limit of a zone of water extending three miles offshore, sometimes regarded as the extent of the territorial jurisdiction of the coastal country …   English World dictionary

  • three-mile limit — three′ mile lim′it n. law the outer limit of a three mile belt of waters adjacent to a coast, regarded as under the jurisdiction of the state possessing the coast • Etymology: 1890–95 …   From formal English to slang

  • three-mile limit — /three muyl /, Internat. Law. the limit of the marine belt of three mi. (4.8 km), which is included within the jurisdiction of the state possessing the coast. [1890 95] * * * …   Universalium

  • the three-mile limit — Three mile Three mile , a. Of or pertaining to three miles; as, {the three mile limit}, or the limit of the marine belt (the {three mile belt} or {three mile zone}) of three miles included in territorial waters (which see) of a state. [Webster… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • three-mile limit — noun Date: 1876 the limit of the marginal sea of three miles included in the territorial waters of a state …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • three-mile limit — The distance of one marine league or three miles offshore normally recognized as the limit of territorial jurisdiction. See territorial waters …   Black's law dictionary

  • three-mile limit — noun the limit of a nation s territorial waters • Hypernyms: ↑limit, ↑demarcation, ↑demarcation line …   Useful english dictionary

  • three-mile limit — the limit of territorial waters claimed by many states although much wider limits are claimed for fisheries …   Dictionary of ichthyology

  • three-mile limit — The territorial waters of a state on the sea coast are often so designated since they include a strip three nautical miles wide off shore. The width of the strip had its origin in the ordinary range of an ancient coast defense cannon, estimated… …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • three-mile limit — /ˌθri maɪl ˈlɪmət/ (say .three muyl limuht) noun (in international law) the minimum extent of territorial waters; greater limits are now claimed by many states …  

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