| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of this work is to reveal the legal issues of construction and maintenance of submarine pipelines and cables by analyzing practical examples. The work is guided by international law conventions, case law, national legislation. It also draws on publications and scientific articles written on the subject of submarine cables and pipelines. The master's thesis analyzes submarine cables and pipelines, their regulation, place in Lithuanian law and issues. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea governs the construction and maintenance of these structures. In the Lithuanian legal system, their regulation is narrow, although there are cable routes in the Lithuanian territorial sea. Problems with the balance of rights between states, the lack of regulation of physical cables and cyber-attacks on cables, and the lack of regulation of the use of cables for espionage have been identified. The paper analyzes jurisdictional issues where coastal states and countries operating underwater structures compete in different marine regions. Coastal states in the territorial sea should enact legislation that recognizes the importance of cable and pipeline repair and investigates the actual impact of cables on the seabed. On the continental shelf and in the exclusive economic zone, companies, operating underwater cables and pipelines, and coastal states should take into account each other's rights and interests and cooperate with each other. In the high seas region and the sea bed, all states have the right to build submarine cables and pipelines, but they must take into account the interests of other states and ongoing activities in the area. The paper reveals the legal problems of physical damage, cyber-attacks and espionage of submarine cables. Provisions of international law give coastal states the right, but not the obligation, to protect submarine cables in the territorial sea from these activities. There are currently rules of international law that could theoretically address certain aspects of the security of cable systems, but there are significant gaps and no regulation at all in the case of espionage. International cooperation, in the form of a convention on the protection of submarine cable systems, is the best way forward. |
