Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999


The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 is a statutory instrument of the United Kingdom government, defining the boundaries of internal waters, territorial sea, and British Fishing Limits adjacent to Scotland. It was introduced in accordance with the Scotland Act 1998, which established the devolved Scottish Parliament.

Defining jurisdictions

The territorial waters defined come under the jurisdiction of Scots law, and are also used for defining the area of operation of the Scottish Government, SEPA, and other Scottish Government agencies and public bodies.
The territorial waters defined as not being Scottish waters come under the jurisdiction of either English law or Northern Ireland law. Because the order defines the territorial limits of the three separate jurisdictions, it comprises a piece of constitutional law in the constitution of the United Kingdom.

Scottish waters

Scottish waters is a colloquial term which can refer to different sea areas, including:
The maritime boundary adopted by the order is an equidistant boundary. This differed from the boundary established by the Civil Jurisdiction Act 1987 which defined a straight line border between Scotland and England in the North Sea along the latitude of 55° 50' 00"N.
As a result, some oil fields previously subject to Scots civil law were transferred to English jurisdiction. Professor Alex Kemp of the University of Aberdeen argued that the movement of the line did not make much difference from an economic perspective, "because are just a handful of fields, and very important ones".

Potential implications for Scottish independence

The European Journal of International Law published a detailed article in 2001 entitled "Prospective Anglo-Scottish maritime boundary revisited". This concludes that, in the event of Scottish independence, the maritime border between Scotland and England as set out in the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 would not comply with international law.