Publication

This paper explores how the obligations states have under the the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) could conflict with those created by the the right of innocent passage codified in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). More specifically, the authors set out three scenarios that explore how coastal states' obligation under UNCLOS not to hinder innocent passage by foreign-flagged ships through their territorial seas could come into conflict with 1) Article 6 of the ATT not to authorize transfers of conventional arms under certain circumstances; and 2) Article 9 of the ATT, which requires states to regulate transit where feasible and necessary. The authors argue that Article 9 is reconcilable with UNCLOS as it takes international law into account. They also suggest that in many cases, coastal states will be able to reconcile Article 6 with UNCLOS, but that this is not always the case and that the ATT article will take priority over the right of innocent passage in certain situations.