Jayan Ishanka

BOOK REVIEW Nirmala Chandrahasan Maritime Boundaries in the Indian Ocean: Sri Lanka and the Law of the Sea A Stamford Lake Publication 2014 1. This book provides information about the limits of each zone, the historical background to their evolution, the legal regime which prevails in each of these zones and the coastal state's jurisdiction over the resources of the zone. The new law is contained in the provisions of the 1982 law of the sea convention, which are applicable throughout the oceans.Sri Lanka is a party to the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) acceded to on December 10, 1982 and exercises jurisdiction over the territorial sea, contiguous zone, continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone in keeping with the definitions laid down in that convention.The territorial waters of Sri Lanka extend 22km (12nm) beyond the coastline and cover an area of about 21,500 sq km. The contiguous zone is the band of water extending from the outer edge of the territorial sea to up to 24 nautical miles.In addition, the country enjoys rights to a un-mandated ‘exclusive economic zone’ (EEZ) that extends outward 370km (200nm) from its shores and covers an area of about 510,000 sq km. Besides having sovereign rights to resources in the water column, seabed and subsurface, Sri Lanka also has the exclusive right to authorize, regulate and control scientific research within this zone.Sri Lanka has made a submission to the UN to extend the limit beyond the present EEZ 200nm limit. According to UN law, a country can have continental shelf rights up to 350nm or 100nm from the 2,500m depth, whichever is higher. 2. Dr. Nirmala Chandrahaasan is a distinguished advocate who has been involved in the peace process in Sri Lanka for several years now. She holds a postgraduate degree in law from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D from the University of Colombo. She has contributed articles on human rights, refugee law and international humanitarian law to international law journals. She is presently on the advisory committee of a ten-year master plan for a Trilingual Sri Lanka and she is an attorney at Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. 3. This is an awesome book consisting with four chapters. This book provides information about the limits of each zone, the historical background to their evolution, the legal regime which prevails in each of these zones, and the coastal state’s jurisdiction over the resources of the zone. The new low is contained in the provisions of the 1982 law of the sea convention, which are applicable throughout the oceans. This book also examines sri lanka’s maritime legislation in respect to the above matters, as well as subjects of interest to sri lanka ie the maritime boundary with india , kachchativu and the boundary treaties , historic waters, and the sethusamudram canal project.This book provide to reader it open up exciting new maritime vistas which are increasingly impinging on our lives, and of which we are generally unaware. Today maritime boundaries have a subject if vital importance to states well as their people. the seas are now the last frontier of mankind, and as the resources of the lands are diminishing the seas hold out promise of large reserved living and non-living resource, including oil and natural gas. 4. Finally, I would like to recommend this book for anyone looking to further their littoral of the Indian ocean to get the knowledge about the limits of zones ,the historical background to their evolution and the jurisdiction over the resources of the zone throughout the ocean .