Principality of Sealand

The Principauté of Sealand is a car-proclaimed State, installed on an old military platform called Fort Roughs. She is considered by her partisans, mainly Net surfers, like a Micronation. She is recognized per none the nations which constitute the the United Nations. If it were it, it would be the smallest State of the world. Its population exceeds only seldom five inhabitants and its livable space is of 550 m ² approximately.

Sealand occupies an old military platform created with broad of the the United Kingdom by the Royal Navy at the time of the Second world war, in the International water of the the North Sea. It is located at 10 km of the coasts of Suffolk, in England, with, and is occupied since 1967 by the family members of Paddy Roy Bates and its associates.

Preamble

The Principauté of Sealand is an old military platform with broad of the the United Kingdom including one former British officer of the name of Roy Bates seized and which he declared unilaterally independent State in 1975. This independence is recognized by no other State but rests on a gap in the law which makes it possible to expressly shelter there activities in addition illegal on the British territory (free radios in the years 1960, casino S on line). Car-proclaimed sovereign, Packsaddlled, born in 1922, abdicated in favor of his son Michael in 2000. However it clearly appears with the eyes of the public international law that the aforementioned Principality of Sealand does not have " territoire" (ground). However the territory is one of the four elements (with the population, the effective and independent government (sovereign)) necessary to be recognized as a State by the other States member of the international community. In conclusion the Principality of Sealand is not a recognized State (if not a tacit recognition by the French post office at the time where Georges Pompidou was president of the French Republic).

History

In 1966, Roy Packsaddlled, former major of the British army and veteran of the Second world war, hears of this platform located in the International water. After having consulted lawyers and specialists in the Maritime law, it discovers that nothing, apparently, is opposed to the taking possession of the platform. The December 25th 1966, on board its fishing vessel and in company of some friends, Bates approaches the platform and takes possession of it. A court of the Essex gives them reason against the British government thereafter.

In August 1978, of the " pirates" Dutch (as well as a German) kidnaps Prince Michael, wire of Roy Bates, and occupies Sealand. Packsaddlled and its associates take again control by the force, but without bloodshed. The German is held a time for " trahison" (being holder of a passport sealandais), then slackened. This event is officially regarded as a " guerre" by the government sealandais.

In June 2006, Sealand is devastated by a fire, and according to the press, in January 2007 the authorities announce that they leave the " pays" ; and that the " gouvernement" would seek to rent Sealand with new inhabitants.

In January 2007, the press is on sale made the echo of the setting of the platform. Ten million books for 550 m ² livable, is a price of 27.000 euros per m ². The French newspaper Libération brings back these remarks of the prince in title, Michael, wire of Roy Bates: One has had the island for 40 years, but now, my father is 85 years old, perhaps that time came from a renovation . And to insist on the advantages of the State: panoramic sight on the sea, total peace, absence of tax… No precision however is brought on the changes which this sale will imply on the mode. Will the prince leave his place to the new owner, or will reign he on the new citizens, which will hold all the territory of the State?

A few days later The Pirates Bay (which already supported the micronation Ladonia) lance the BuySealand.com initiative in order to collect 2.000.000 USD to buy the platform.

Policy

Sealand has a simple constitution, instituted in 1995, and which is composed of a preamble and seven articles. The preamble affirms the independence of Sealand, whereas the articles differently treat statute of Sealand like constitutional monarchy, the capacity of the governmental offices, the role of an indicated and advisory senate, the functions of an indicated and advisory legal court, the prohibition to carry weapons, excluded by the members of the “guard of Sealand”, the exclusive right of the sovereign deal with the foreign politics and change the constitution, and the hereditary succession of monarchy.

The current governmental offices of Sealand are: the office of the external Businesses, the office of the internal businesses, and the and , post office Telecommunications Technology.

The majority of the bodies of the government of Sealand are apparently inactive, or operate apart from the territory of Sealand.

Geography

The territory of the principality of Sealand is the Fort Roughs, one of the platforms of the British army, built with broad of the estuary of the the Thames. The fort ensured protection against the German air raids during the Second world war. It had been disarmed and left with the abandonment after the conflict.

The characteristic of Strong Roughs compared to the other platforms of the estuary of the Thames posed during the war is to be located in the International water.

Economy

Official currency

The official currency of Sealand is the “dollar of Sealand”, which is worth exactly a dollar of the United States of America (USD). Several coins different left since 1972 in various units from this currency. Because of the limited population of Sealand, her physical inaccessibility and the lack of an economy with large scales, it is not very probable that these coins were designed for a true use as a currency. The majority were conceived in noble metals, in order to interest the investors and the collectors of coins. With beginning of the year 90, the “exiled” government also produced a coin with the effigy of the “Prime Minister” Seiger.

External economy

The base being able to accommodate a garrison from 160 to 200 people and being on the continental shelf, Sealand starts to interest of the business men. Roy Bates receives projects of opening of casinos, hotels, and even of communist intelligence services of country of Eastern Europe during the Cold war. But, until now, only one of these projects was carried out. In June 2000, the crown prince Packsaddlled Michael, wire of the couple and sailor-fisherman, signed an agreement with the american company HavenCo Ltd to develop in Sealand an offshore oil rig paradise Internet, the principality sheltering against finance of the data-processing waiters.

Demography

Its official population is of an inhabitant in 2002. It seldom exceeded the five inhabitants since his taking possession by Roy Bates in 1966. Being given the narrowness of the platform, and its incapacity to increase, the demography of Sealand will be able a priori to never grow.

Culture

The couple starts, shortly after its installation on the platform, the creation of symbols of sovereignty: a Flag, a Currency with the effigy of the princess, postage stamps, passports. The flag, drawn by Joan Packsaddlled, is white, red (for his/her husband) and black (to point out the Piraterie), and carries tails of siren and a lion. It appears that a series of paintings of the Mengal artist belongs to the collections of this principality.

Sealand has its football team.

Stamps

Sealand published for the first time of the stamps in 1969, when a service of helicopter was instituted to carry the mail between the tower of Roughs and Brussels, in Belgium (cf private Timbre). During several months as from September 1969, a significant volume of mail carrying the stamp of the “station sealandaise” (approximately 25.000 in 1969, and posted in Belgium) would have been accepted without taxation by the Belgian post office for an international destination.

Legal controversies

The particular status of Sealand gave place to many legal contentions.

In November 1999, the civil Guardia inhabitant of Madrid stops a small gasoline trafficker and is astonished to discover that the man has a diplomatic passport of Sealand, and that it maintains an embassy on the avenue Castellana with Madrid. This old keeps civil returned for civil embezzlement of the guardia , is also known as the notary Frant Blake in Germany from where it sells on Internet of false passports, diplomas or certificates of domiciliation of companies. After one year of investigations, sixty “citizens” of Sealand are stopped and shown drug trafficking, swindle, detention of explosives, sale of 4.000 false passports in HongKong, driving license to drug traffickers in Morocco, traffics of weapons, etc

June 14th, 2000, in the newspaper Le Monde , the prince, the princess and the crown prince (who manages indeed Sealand from the platform) affirmed that they were not related to these facts, and that the name of Sealand was used without their authorization; the prince certifies that his forever open “country” of embassy, nor provided passports to whoever apart from the real inhabitants of Strong Roughs.

Legal status

The government sealandais affirms that the sovereignty of the Principality is based on the following principles:

When Paddy Roy Packsaddlled and its associates occupied Fort Roughs in 1967, this one was in international water, apart from the British Juridiction and of any other national jurisdiction. The fort was thus Terra nullius , and could be occupied by a new State. Sealand would be thus a legitimate Sovereign state Of swears .
a decision of the British court in 1968, which recognized that Fort Roughs was in international water, and thus apart from the jurisdiction of the court. What would be a recognition De facto of the sovereignty of Sealand.

In the International law, the opinions are divided. Does the legal base of the existence of a State depend on the recognition of this State by other States, or on the acquisition of official characteristics whose existence can be noted by other States? And, in the first case, that does it require a “diplomatic recognition”, or only the recognition of the existence of the State? It is in any case certain that no State officially recognized Sealand. However, Bates affirms that the negotiations carried out by the Germany for the release of a prisoner held by Bates constitutes a recognition de facto of the existence of Sealand, and thus of its sovereignty.

According to the criteria adopted by the Convention of Montevideo (1933), a State needs:

of a definite territory;
of a permanent population;
of a government;
of the capacity to establish relations with other Sovereign states.

Similar criteria were accepted by the arbitration Committee Badinter of the European Community, whose function was to determine the legal effects of the partition of the ex- Yugoslavia. The Commission defines a State as an entity having “a territory, a population and an political authority”, criteria which do not depend on the recognition of a State by another.

Nevertheless, in spite of the assertions of Sealand, a German court decided into 1978 that this one was not a Sovereign state, estimating that these criteria (“a territory, a population and an political authority”) had not been filled.

Thus, the court declared that Fort Roughs, artificial island, were not “a natural segment of the surface of the Earth”, and could not thus constitute the “territory” of a State. Moreover, the court affirmed that the citizens of Sealand did not divide a fabric of Community bonds sufficient to constitute “people” in international law.

More precisely, from the point of view of German justice,

in the case of the “Duchy of Sealand” we cannot accept that there exists “people” in the direction of the international law, since there is not between these people of Community life. to have of a State is not only to promote an association in the broad sense, of which the goal would be the division of pastime and shared interests. A State must rather aim at the maintenance of a primarily permanent form of Community life, i.e. the division of a common destiny.

These “inhabitants” did not acquire their “nationality” with an aim of living together and of carrying out the various aspects of their joint life; on the contrary, they continue to continue their individual interests apart from the “Duchy”. The shared aspect of their association is limited to a small portion of their life - i.e. the questions of trade and taxes. This degree of shared interests cannot be considered sufficient so that “people” with the direction heard by the international law are recognized there.

In Re Duchy off Sealand (1978) 80 ILR 683, At 687-9 (Administrative court of Cologne)

In 1987, the United Kingdom decided the extension of its territorial water to 22km, which is authorized by the international legislation since 1958. Fort Roughs was thus inside British territorial water. Sealand claims to have extended its own territorial water to 22km one day before the British decision, but the legal doctrines of the United Kingdom make that the platform is regarded as belonging to the English county of the Essex.

According to the Convention of the United Nations on the right of the sea (1982), it is not possible to grant the existence of an artificial island unless it was not approved or was built before by a Neighboring state. What wants to say that it is not possible any more to build an artificial island and to make a Sovereign state of it, nor to make an extension of a State of it, with an aim of extending its Territorial water or its exclusive economic Zone.

Such a State cannot be recognized like sovereign, unless proving that it was de facto sovereign before 1982.

The policy of the British government seems to be not to make a comment on this subject, and not to act unless being constrained there. Documents, made available to the public by a law which puts an end to their confidentiality after 30 years, reveal that the United Kingdom had thought of taking Sealand of force, but that this idea was rejected by the Prime Minister because of the risk of losses in human lives, as well as the risk of a legal and media disaster.

In 1990, an administrative court of the United States decided that Sealand was not a sovereign nation, and forever be it, on the basis of information coming from the ministry for the trade and industry. In 1991, this decision was confirmed by a federal court.

December 6th, 2005, the British newspaper The Times claimed that the government and justice British had finally recognized that Sealand “is apart from the British national territory and that it does not form part of the United Kingdom”. However, the newspaper does not give further information more detailed, and no other source seems to confirm this information.

See too

Internal bonds

Paddy Roy Packsaddlled
Team of Sealand of football
Micronation

External bonds

the official site of the Principality of Sealand
HavenCo Ltd.
Archives of Sealand
Site of the Government rebels of Sealand
Plus information and images

References

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