Principality of Sealand

Sealand, officially Principality of Sealand (in English: Principality of Sealand) is a micronation and self-proclaimed principality, whose form of government is the constitutional, parliamentary, unitary monarchy. The principality proclaims as its own sovereign territory the marine platform Roughs Tower, built by the Royal Navy in 1942 and located in the North Sea, ten kilometers from the coast of Suffolk, in the United Kingdom, as well as territorial waters within a radius of twelve nautical miles.

Sealand was occupied by the family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates, who proclaimed himself the principality and coined for himself the appellation HRH Prince Roy of Sealand. The population in its facilities rarely exceeds five people and the living area of the tower is 550 m².

No country has recognized the sovereignty and legitimacy of Sealand. It is often used as a case study related to how principles of international law can be applied to disputed territory.

History

In 1942, during the Second World War, the United Kingdom built HM Fort Roughs as part of the Maunsell Sea Forts. The fort is composed of a floating platform equipped with a superstructure of two towers joined by a deck on which other structures could be added.

The platform was towed to Rough Sands, a sandbank located approximately ten kilometers from the Suffolk coast and thirteen kilometers from the coast of Essex, England, where the hull of the vessel was intentionally flooded to fix its position on the bottom of the sandbank. The structure that is currently visible corresponds to the ship's superstructure. The chosen location was in international waters, beyond the five kilometers of territorial waters claimed by the United Kingdom at the time.

The facility (known as Roughs Tower) was occupied by between 150 and 300 Royal Navy personnel during the Second World War and it was not until 1956 that the last personnel were evacuated and the tower abandoned.

On September 2, 1967, the fort was occupied by Paddy Roy Bates, a British citizen pirate radio presenter, who expelled a rival group of radio pirates and claimed sovereignty based on his personal interpretation of international law.

In 1968 Roy's son, Michael Bates, was brought to trial as a result of an incident during which fire was opened on a British Navy ship near Sealand. According to some reports, the ship's crew were attempting to dislodge the Bates from the fort, while others argue that they were merely carrying out repair work on a nearby navigation buoy. On 25 November 1968 the court, based in Chelmsford, Essex stated that because the incident occurred outside British territorial waters, it had no jurisdiction over the case. Bates has cited this case as an act in which the United Kingdom recognized its de facto sovereignty. >.

In 1978, while Bates was away, the Prime Minister of Sealand, Alexander G. Achenbach, along with several German and Dutch citizens, forcibly took over the tower, holding Michael Bates captive, only to release him several days later in the Netherlands.

Bates prepared armed assistance and using an assault helicopter retook the fortress. He held the invaders captive and declared them prisoners of war. Most of the participants in the invasion were repatriated upon the cessation of the "war", but Achenbach, a German lawyer holding a Sealand passport, was charged with treason against Sealand and would be held captive unless he paid 75,000 DM. The governments of the Netherlands and Germany petitioned the British Government for his release; However, he disclaimed all responsibility, citing the court's decision in 1968. Germany then sent a diplomat from its embassy in London to Roughs Tower to negotiate with Prince Roy for the release of Achenbach. After several weeks Roy Bates relented and then stated that the diplomat's visit constituted Germany's de facto recognition of Sealand (Germany has not confirmed this interpretation).

After his repatriation, Achenbach established a "government in exile" in Germany in opposition to Roy Bates, assuming the title of "Chairman of the Privy Council". Upon his resignation for health reasons in August 1989, the rebel government's "Minister for Economic Cooperation," Johanes Seiger, assumed control under the title of Prime Minister and "Chairman of the Privy Council." i>». Seiger continues to claim to be the legitimate authority of Sealand.

Sealand claims the waters around the tower for an area of twelve nautical miles as its territory and has claimed to have physically defended its claim on at least one occasion. In an incident in 1990 in which the Golden Eye, a Royal Navy auxiliary ship, was fired upon from Sealand.^{[citation needed]}

For a time, a Spanish group allegedly associated with the Seiger government-in-exile manufactured and sold Sealand passports, which achieved wide dissemination, especially in Eastern Europe. These passports, which were not authorized by the Bates family, were involved in several important crimes, including the murder of Gianni Versace. Due to the large number of illegal passports in circulation (estimated at 150,000), in 1997 the Bates family revoked all Sealand passports, including those they themselves had issued over the past thirty years.

In 1968 the United Kingdom incorporated the Roughs Sands area into British territorial waters. Between 1990-1991 the United Kingdom presented evidence to a United States Administrative Court that no independent "Principality of Sealand" had ever existed. This case was never appealed by the Sealand royal family.

It is believed that all members of the 'Sealand Royal Family' retain their British nationality. Since 1999 none of them have taken up permanent residence at Roughs Tower, which is currently occupied by one or more caretakers on behalf of Michael Bates, who in turn lives in Leigh on Sea, England. As Sealand is not a recognized country, the Bates family travels internationally with the passport that certifies them as British citizens.

In June 2006, a fire broke out due to the explosion of an electricity generator. The damage is serious but the structure remained safe. For a few weeks after the fire, the entry of foreign ships within a diameter of one nautical mile to the principality was prohibited, as was the landing of helicopters.

In 2007, the principality of Sealand put the platform that makes up its territory up for sale. To carry out the transaction for this purpose, the Spanish company Inmolínea was hired.

Currently, the principality of Sealand is maintained, to a greater extent, by the sale of noble titles, through the official website of the principality. By 2023, Sealand has more than 300 citizens, coming from different parts of the world.

Administration

Regardless of their legal status, the Bates family manage Sealand as if it were a recognized sovereign entity and are its hereditary royal rulers. Roy Bates called himself "Prince Roy" and his wife "Princess Joan." His son is known as "His Royal Highness Prince Michael" and has been called "Prince Regent" by the Bates family since 1999. In this role, he apparently serves as Sealand's acting "Head of State" and also as "Head of State." of government".

At a conference on micronations organized by the University of Sunderland in 2004, Sealand was represented by Michael Bates's son James. The facility is now occupied by one or more caretakers representing Michael Bates, who resides in Essex, England.

The Sealand constitution was established in 1975. It consists of a preamble and seven articles. The preamble affirms the independence of Sealand, while the articles variously deal with Sealand's status as a constitutional monarchy, the empowerment of government offices, the role of a designated advisory senate, the functions of a designated advisory legal court, a proscription against the carrying of arms except by members of a "Seal Guard" designated, the exclusive right of the sovereign to formulate foreign policy and alter the constitution, and the patrilineal hereditary succession of the monarchy.

Sealand's legal system is stated to follow British common law, with statutes taking the form of decrees issued by the sovereign. Sealand has issued "fantasy passports" (named by the Council of the European Union), which are not valid for international travel, and holds the Guinness World Record for "smallest area to claim nation status", the motto of Sealand is E Mare Libertas ('From the sea, freedom'). It appears on Sealand items—such as stamps, passports, and coins—and is the title of the Sealand anthem. The anthem was composed by Londoner Basil Simonenko; Being an instrumental anthem, it has no lyrics. In 2005, the anthem was recorded by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and published on their CD National Anthems of the World, Vol. 7: Qatar - Syria.

Legal status

The proclamation of Sealand as an independent territory is based on these two arguments:

1. When Paddy Roy Bates and his associates occupied Roughs Tower and performed the Independence Act in 1967, in which Sealand declared its independence from the United Kingdom, it was in international waters, outside the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom or any other sovereign state. On this basis Sealand declares legitimacy and sovereignty of iure and de facto.
2. Interaction between the British Government and Sealand constitutes recognition de facto. On that basis, Sealand argues de facto legitimacy.

In international law, the two schools of thought of what constitutes a state are represented by the constitutive and declarative theories of state creation. Constitutive theory was the standard model used in the 19th century, while declarative theory was developed in the XX to compensate for some omissions from the constituent. In constitutive theory a state exists exclusively through the recognition of other states. The theory does not clarify whether this means "diplomatic recognition" or simply "recognition of its existence." Although no state has granted Sealand diplomatic recognition, Bates insists that Germany's negotiations constitute "recognition of existence." In the declaratory theory, every entity becomes a state as soon as it meets all the requirements to be considered as such. Recognition of other states is merely “declaratory.”

Under international law, the criteria for what constitutes a state are defined by the Montevideo Convention. This states that a defined territory, a permanent population, a government, and the ability to relate to other sovereign states are the only requirements to found a sovereign state. None of these requirements have to adhere to any defined standard or size, but their general characteristics should be taken into account.

Similar criteria can be found in the Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee of the European Union. The committee concluded that a state was defined by having a territory, a population, and a political authority. The committee also concluded that the existence and disappearance of states is a matter of fact, while the recognition of other states is merely declaratory.

After the British court's decision in 1968, the United Kingdom extended its territorial waters to twelve nautical miles (22 km), an action to which it had been entitled under international standards since 1958 (although the necessary law was not passed until 1987). That and other subsequent laws have to do with the construction and legal status of artificial islands. However, since Roughs Tower is actually a sunken vessel, some point out that it cannot be governed by such laws.

According to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, there is no transitional law and no possibility of accepting the existence of a construction previously approved or built by a neighboring state. This may mean that it is no longer possible to build artificial islands and then declare their sovereignty for the purposes of extending an exclusive economic zone or claiming territorial waters. But, Roughs Tower being a sunken vessel and not an artificial island, it would be necessary for Her Majesty's Crown Office (who are the rightful owners of the land beneath the tower), to act as the complainant owner to remove the sinking from their property.. If Sealand is a sunken ship and not an artificial island, it cannot make any claim to sovereignty, since a ship cannot be considered "permanent" territory, one of the requirements for establishing a State.

Even though the British Government has publicly declared its authority over Roughs Tower, it appears to be government policy to avoid any action or comment unless forced. British Government documents, now available to the public after the expiration of their thirty years of confidentiality, show that there were plans to retake the tower by force, but they were not approved by the acting Prime Minister due to the potential for loss of life and the creation of a legal and public relations disaster.

In 1990-1991, the British Government presented evidence to a US Administrative Court that no independent state by the name Sealand exists and never has existed. On December 6, 2005, the British newspaper The Times published a note stating that the British Government and Courts had finally admitted that Sealand "is outside the British national territory [...] and does not form part of the United Kingdom", although the newspaper did not give more details and there has been no confirmation from other sources.

Princes

Currency

Sealand has declared the Sealand Dollar as its circulating currency, and has established parity with the US dollar as its theoretical value, but as it is not a recognized state it has no real value other than that which can be generated by collecting or curiosity., because it is not useful for any commercial exchange. Several dozen coins have been minted since 1972 in various units of currency. Given Sealand's limited population, the physical inaccessibility of its territory, and the lack of a real economy, it is unlikely that these coins were minted for mainstream use. Most were minted in precious metals, which sparked the interest of some investors and coin collectors. In the early 1990s, the German Achenbach group also produced a coin, on which the image of Prime Minister Seiger appeared.

Stamps

Sealand is not recognized by the Universal Postal Union, so it does not issue its own internationally valid stamps. Occasionally they have issued invalid stamps.

Sports

Football

The Sealand football team is the representative sports team of said micronation in official matches and was a member of the NF-Board and directed by the Sealand National Football Association founded in 2003. Its best player is Dan Hughes with 6 goals in the match with Recia.

Their first match was played on March 4, 2004 with the Aland Islands, the result of which was a 2-2 draw, and their worst defeat was an 8-0 with Occitania, after being defeated by Tamil Eelam 5- 3, although they found it satisfactory to draw with Somaliland 2-2 and beat Seborga 3-0 and Recia 6-1.

Sealand, despite its small size of 550 m², has an official athlete, a national amateur football team and a mini golf team.

On May 22, 2013, mountaineer Kenton Cool placed a Sealand flag on the summit of Mount Everest.

• Sealand Soccer Selection
• Sealand National Football Association