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Citation. I.C.J., 1949 1.C.J.4.
Brief Fact Summary. The right to send its warship through the straits used for international navigations was the claim put forward by the United Kingdom (P).
Synopsis of Rule of Law. The geographical situation connecting two parts of the high seas and not the fact of its being used for international navigation is the test of whether a channel should be considered as belonging to the class of international highways through which passage cannot be prohibited by a coastal state in time of peace.
A commentator noted in 1962 that, for the purposes of these borrowing statutes, the courts unanimously hold that a cause of action sounding in tort arises in the jurisdiction where the last act necessary to establish liability occurred; i.e., the jurisdiction in which injury was received.
View Full Point of LawIssue. Can the geographical situation connecting two parts of the highs sea and not the fact of its being used for the international navigation, be a test of whether a channel can be considered as belonging to the class of international highways through which passage cannot be prohibited by a coastal state in a time of peace?
Held. Yes. The geographical situation connecting two parts of the high seas and not the fact of its being used for international navigation is the test of whether a channel should be considered as belonging to the class of international highways through which passage cannot be prohibited by a coastal state in time of peace. The North Corfu Channel can be categorized to the class of international highways through which passage cannot be prohibited by a coastal state in time of peace. If Albania had issued such regulation in light of the state of war with Greece, then Albania would have been justified in issuing regulations in respect of the passage of warships through the strait.
Discussion. In 1982, the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea was passed. It stipulates that whether coastal or landlocked, states can enjoy the right of innocent passage through territorial sea. But 12 nautical miles from the coast was the maximum limit of which the territorial sea was held to exist.