摘要
1982年聯合國海洋法公約就低潮高地之法律地位，僅在第十三條規定低潮高地在大陸或島嶼的領海內，則可作為測算領海寬度之基線，以及低潮高地在領海外，則低潮高地不能擁有領海，以及同法第七條第四項規定，若直線基線採用低潮高地時，除在低潮高地築有永久高於海平面的燈塔或類似設施，或以低潮高地作為劃定基線的起訖點等已獲得國際一般承認者外，「直線基線的劃定不應以低潮高地為起訖點」。因此，低潮高地是否得為一國之領土？若位於二國以上之重疊海域內時，此低潮高地效力如何？國際實踐上又如何看待此低潮高地之法律地位問題？本文試從國際實踐及法學方法提出見解以論低潮高地之法律地位。
並列摘要
Article 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides as follows: ”1. A low-tide elevation is a naturally formed area of land which is surrounded by and above water at low tide but submerged at high tide. Where a low-tide elevation is situated wholly or partly at a distance not exceeding the breadth of the territorial sea from the mainland or an island, the low-water line on that elevation may be used as the baseline for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea.2. Where a low-tide elevation is wholly situated at a distance exceeding the breadth of the territorial sea from the mainland or an island, it has no territorial sea of its own.”However, whether a low-tide elevation can be considered to be ”territory”? whether appropriation of a low-tide elevation by a State can be permitted according to the rules and principles of territorial acquisition? What is legal status of a low-tide elevation which falls within the apparently overlapping territorial waters between two States? What is the viewpoint of the international practice concerning the legal status of a low-tide elevation which has come up in methodology of jurisprudence? The mentioned-above questions will be discussed in this article for researchers' reference.