The Passage Regimes of the Kerch Strait To Each Their Own

OCEAN DEVELOPMENT & INTERNATIONAL LAW 29
claims could potentially lead to the application of parallel legal regimes of transit passage
and permit-based passage to the Kerch Strait, causing increased legal uncertainty for international
shipping. Such instability regarding the applicable passage regime could also constitute
a fruitful ground for any potential future conflict between Ukraine and the Russian
Federation and likely hinder the economic development of the Sea of Azov region.
Reaching a compromise solution on the applicable passage regime in the Kerch Strait would
not necessarily require new treaty negotiations between the parties to the dispute. It follows,
from the preceding discussion, that the law of the sea and general international law are already
clearly able to reconcile the conflicting interests of the coastal states and to ensure the rule of
law and legal certainty in the shipping routes of the Sea of Azov. Therefore, it is rather a matter
of pacta sunt servanda that the rights and freedoms stipulated in the 2003 Kerch Treaty
are guaranteed by its states parties toward each other and third states.
Acknowledgment
The author is grateful to Erik J. Molenaar and to two anonymous reviewers for their insightful
comments and suggestions on this research.
ORCID
Alexander Lott
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4731-7358