A Study On Legal Issue Of Peacetime Military Activities At Sea

Military activities are of great significance to a country.After the Second World War,the abandonment of war by the international community made the countries focus on the peacetime military activities;the development and application of science and technology provide a solid technical support for the peacetime military activities,develop new forms of activities,and expand the breadth and depth of marine use.But the international community does reach a unified view on the definition of the peacetime military activities at sea and how to apply it,and the resulting disputes are not uncommon.This paper takes the definition of the peacetime military activities at sea as the starting point,and expounds the legal principles applicable to these activities,and summarizes and analyzes the disputes in practice,furthermore,study the corresponding dispute settlement.This paper is divided into four chapters:The first chapter defines the peacetime military activities.This is a prerequisite to study the legal issues of this activity to confirm what activities are peacetime military activities at sea.The definition is made from three aspects,such as military activities,peacetime,at sea,means all military activities made by the national maritime forces on and under the surface of the sea,the sea bed,the subsoil,and over the sea,in order to achieve the purpose of promoting national security and safeguarding national political,economic and military interests under non-war state standards.This chapter also lists the contents of peacetime military activities at sea,and compares various classification methods,and puts forward the most essential basis for the division of military threat strength.The second chapter studies the applicable legal principles of the peacetime military activities at sea,including the principle of peaceful purpose,the principle of sea area division,and the principle of due regard.This chapter analyzes the disputes arising from the application of the three principles,and regulates the specific connotation of that,finally puts forward a conclusion that is although the three principles have their own emphasis,but should be used as a general specification to restrict the development of the peacetime military activities at sea.The third chapter enumerates and analyzes the two main kinds of disputes arising from the practice of peacetime military activities at sea:the one is due to the definition of peacetime military activities at sea,including the disputes over the division between the peacetime military activities and law enforcement activities at sea and the dispute over the division between military exploration and scientific research at sea;the other is due to different restrictions on military activities at different areas of the sea,including the disputes of whether other countries' warships can freely pass the territorial sea and the disputes of whether other countries can carry out military measurements and reconnaissance in the exclusive economic zone.The fourth chapter expounds the dispute settlement mechanism of the peacetime military activities at sea.First of all,we should abide by the obligation of peaceful settlement of international disputes and respect the agreement reached among the countries in resolving disputes.Secondly,it is suitable for the application of "optional exceptions to applicability of the compulsory procedure " provided by the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea.