The Kara Sea as an Object of International Legal Policy of Russia
https://doi.org/10.24833/RJWPLN-2024-1-4-15
Abstract
Of all the Arctic seas going into the coast of Siberia, the Kara Sea is noticeably separated by islands from the rest of the Arctic Ocean. These islands have always been under the sovereignty of Russia. These features have predetermined the character of the power of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and modern Russia in relation to the Kara Sea. In 2022, seven Western member states of the Arctic Council brought their disagreements with Russia regarding the non-Arctic issue, thus breaking the traditional “immunity” of the Arctic from political and legal conflicts in other regions.
The author researched legal documents of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation, along with research publications relating to the status of the Kara Sea. General research methods and specific methods of jurisprudence are used as the methodological basis of the study.
During the period of the Russian Empire, the advisor on international law to the Head of the Russian State was adamant that the Kara Sea could only be classified as internal waters of Russia. However, during the Soviet period, Soviet legal scholars unanimously qualified the Kara Sea as part of the state territory of the USSR. However, no relevant legal act was adopted at the official level to confirm this. In 1985, a government decree was adopted dismissing the previous doctrinal position, and most of the Kara Sea was qualified as waters beyond the state’s maritime territory.
In the author’s opinion, the 1985 Decree of the Government of the USSR has conse quences in the context of general international law – that is, it is impossible for modern Russia to return to the Soviet legal position as formulated by Soviet legal teachings. However, the 2022 breaking by the seven Western Arctic states of the traditional Arctic “immunity” from non-Arctic conflicts (as noted above) has made the retaliatory meas ures of the Russian Federation in the Arctic legitimate. In this context, Russia is entitled to respond by strengthening its regulatory measures in the Kara Sea. The relevant re search views regarding such measures are put forward in this article.
About the Author
N. A. Mincheva
MGIMO University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Natalia A. Mincheva – MGIMO University
76, pr. Vernadskogo, Moscow, 119454
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Review
For citations:
Mincheva N.A. The Kara Sea as an Object of International Legal Policy of Russia. Russian Journal of World Politics and Law of Nations. 2024;3(1):4-15. https://doi.org/10.24833/RJWPLN-2024-1-4-15
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