The navigational freedoms are unavoidably curtailed to some degree in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as compared with the traditional high seas freedoms. One of the main reasons for this compromise was to accommodate coastal States’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the newly established maritime zone. Nevertheless, the limitation of the navigational freedoms by the coastal State can only be justified if they are made in accordance with the formula of the attribution of rights and freedoms in the EEZ and must be exercised in good faith and by giving due regard to the exercise of these freedoms and rights. It is noteworthy that coastal States have been able to utilise mechanisms developed by competent international organisations to adopt and implement some of these limitations through the rules of reference, particularly regarding the protection and preservation of the marine environment from international shipping. This chapter first identifies the scope of the preserved freedoms of navigation and overflight in the EEZ, then examines how they may have been affected by the exercise of a coastal State’s rights and jurisdiction, before discusses the remedies to address these impacts.

The acceptance and codification of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) contribute immensely to the remarkable achievements of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as a packaged deal, and permeates many facets of the successful implementation of law of the sea today. The EEZ concept emerged predominantly to serve economic purposes in balance with preservation of traditional freedoms of the sea. On the doctrine of attribution of rights and freedoms, any matter reasonably connected with economic benefits will ground a derogation pro tanto from the traditional high seas freedoms, whereas the essential navigational and communications freedoms continue to operate to the extent that they are not incompatible with the EEZ. The compromised balance in the EEZ is re-ensured by the doctrine that guides the exercise of the rights and freedoms whereby States need to have due regard to one another. These two legal doctrines further guide the principles to resolve conflicts arising from the attribution of residual rights and the settlement of disputes among State parties. The application of these two legal doctrines has sufficient flexibility for States to maintain a dynamic balance on an ad hoc basis to accommodate the growing and changing needs of States.

This chapter examines the entitlements of different entities, such as States, peoples and other groups, international organisations and individuals over energy, understood as resources converted into products through a range of activities relying on certain technologies. International law contains rules which confer such entitlements and organise allocation among competing uses. Such rules are the legal infrastructure upon which international energy transactions are organised. The chapter then discusses other rules, which organise the cross-border movements necessary to access resources where they are located and process them – through certain activities and technologies – for consumption in the form of products in other countries. Enabling access and protecting the processes of conversion and transfer are key aspects of a range of rules governing foreign investment, trade and transit relating to energy.