EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE ACT 1984

LAWS OF MALAYSIA ONLINE VERSION OF UPDATED TEXT OF REPRINT Act 311 EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE ACT 1984 As at 1 January 2013 2 EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE ACT 1984 Date of Royal Assent … … … 24 December 1984 Date of publication in the Gazette … 31 December 1984 Latest amendment made by Act A1277 which came into operation on … … … 1 May 2007 PREVIOUS REPRINTS First Reprint … … … 2001 Second Reprint … … … 2006 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 311 EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE ACT 1984 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I PRELIMINARY Section 1. Short title, application and commencement 2. Interpretation PART II EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE 3. The exclusive economic zone of Malaysia 4. Sovereign rights in, and jurisdiction over, the exclusive economic zone 5. Prohibition of activities in the exclusive economic zone or on the continental shelf except where authorized PART III FISHERIES 6. Seas in the zone to be part of Malaysian fisheries waters 7. Minister responsible for fisheries in the zone 8. Written law relating to fisheries to be applicable in the zone and on the continental shelf 4 Laws of Malaysia ACT 311 PART IV PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT Section 9. Sovereign right of Malaysia to exploit her natural resources 10. 10. Offence in respect of the discharge or escape of certain substances 11. 11. Defence to a charge under section 10 12. 12. Requirement for discharge or escape of certain substances to be reported 13. 13. Measures relating to a maritime casualty 14. 14. Directions and action to remove, disperse, destroy or mitigate damage 15. 15. Power to detain and sell vessel PART V MARINE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH 16. Government consent required for conduct of marine scientific research 17. Right to withhold consent 18. Duty to provide information 19. Duty to comply with certain conditions 20. Suspension or cessation of marine scientific research activities PART VI ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS, INSTALLATIONS AND STRUCTURES 21. Prohibition of construction, operation or use of artificial island, etc., except with authorization PART VII SUBMARINE CABLES AND PIPELINES 22. Consent of Government necessary for delineation of course for laying of submarine cables and pipelines Exclusive Economic Zone 5 Section 23. Duty of owner of submarine cable or pipeline PART VIII ENFORCEMENT 24. Powers of authorized officer 25. Hot pursuit 26. How person arrested to be dealt with 27. How detained vessel to be dealt with 28. Obstruction of authorized officer, etc. PART IX OFFENCES, PENALTIES, LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AND COMPENSATIONS 29. General Penalty 30. Offences by companies, partnerships, etc. 31. Master liable for offence committed on his vessel 32. Detention and forfeiture of vessels, etc. 33. Power of court to order forfeiture 34. Disposal of article, vessel or thing ordered to be forfeited 35. Court may order forfeiture in certain circumstances 36. Sessions Court and Court of Magistrate of First Class to have full jurisdiction and powers under this Act or applicable written law 37. Presumption as to maps, plans or charts made by authority of Governments 38. Prosecution of offence 39. Yang di-Pertuan Agong may appoint other persons to be authorized officers 40. Damage caused to any person or property or to environment in exclusive economic zone or on continental shelf 6 Laws of Malaysia ACT 311 PART X MISCELLANEOUS 41. Power to make regulations 42. Written laws to be applicable in exclusive economic zone or on continental shelf or both by order 7 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 311 EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE ACT 1984 An Act pertaining to the exclusive economic zone and certain aspects of the continental shelf of Malaysia and to provide for the regulation of activities in the zone and on the continental shelf and for matters connected therewith. [1 May 1985, P.U. (B) 214/1985] BE IT ENACTED by the Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the advice and consent of the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: PART I PRELIMINARY Short title, application and commencement 1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Exclusive Economic Zone Act 1984 and shall apply to the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of Malaysia. (2) The provisions of this Act pertaining to the continental shelf shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions of the Continental Shelf Act 1966 [Act 83]. (3) In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the provisions of this Act and of any applicable written law, the provisions of this Act shall supersede the conflicting or inconsistent 8 Laws of Malaysia ACT 311 provisions of that applicable written law and the latter shall be construed as so superseded. (4) The provisions of any applicable written law which are not in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act shall otherwise continue to apply. (5) This Act shall come into force on such date as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may appoint by notification in the Gazette and he may appoint different dates for the coming into force of different provisions of this Act in different areas of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. Interpretation 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— ―applicable written law‖ means any written law— (a) provided to be applicable in respect of the exclusive economic zone, continental shelf or both, as the case may be, by an order made under section 42 or otherwise specifically provided to be so applicable; or (b) applicable in respect of the continental shelf under the provisions of the Continental Shelf Act 1966, and includes the Continental Shelf Act 1966; ―authorized officer‖ means any fishery officer as defined in section 2 of the *Fisheries Act 1985 [Act 317], any port officer as defined in section 2 of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952 [Ord. 70 of 1952], any police officer not below the rank of sergeant as defined in section 2 of the Police Act 1967 [Act 344], any customs officer as defined in section 2 of the Customs Act 1967 [Act 235], any officer of the armed forces as defined in section 2 of the Armed Forces Act 1972 [Act 77], any public officer, irrespective of rank, in command of a vessel * NOTE—The Fisheries Act 1963 [Act 210] has been repealed by the Fisheries Act 1985 [Act 317]–see section 62 of Act 317. Exclusive Economic Zone 9 belonging to the Government or any other person or class of persons appointed to be an authorized officer or authorized officers under section 39; ―continental shelf‖ means the continental shelf of Malaysia as defined in section 2 of the Continental Shelf Act 1966; ―Director General‖ means the Director General of Environmental Quality as defined in section 2 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 [Act 127]; ―dumping‖ means— (a) any deliberate disposal of wastes or other matter from vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea; or (b) any deliberate disposal of vessels, aircraft or other manmade structures at sea, but ―dumping‖ does not include— (i) (i) the disposal of wastes or other matter incidental to, or derived from, the normal operations of vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea and their equipment, other than wastes or other matter transported by or to vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea, operating for the purpose of disposal of such matter or derived from the treatment of such wastes or other matter on such vessels, aircraft, platforms or structures; or (ii) placement of matter for a purpose other than the mere (ii) disposal thereof, provided that such placement is not contrary to the aims of this Act, any applicable written law or international law; ―exclusive economic zone‖ or ―zone‖ means the exclusive economic zone of Malaysia determined in accordance with section 3; 10 Laws of Malaysia ACT 311 ―Government‖ means the Government of Malaysia and includes any Minister charged with responsibility by an order made under the Ministerial Functions Act 1969 [Act 2] for the matter in relation to which the reference to the Government is made under this Act, and any other Minister exercising temporarily the functions of such Minister; ―Malaysian fisheries waters‖ means all waters comprising the internal waters, the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone of Malaysia in which Malaysia exercises sovereign and exclusive rights over fisheries; ―maritime casualty‖ means a collision of vessels, stranding or other incident of navigation, or other occurrence on board a vessel or external to it resulting in material damage or imminent threat of material damage to a vessel or cargo; ―master‖, in relation to a vessel, includes every person (except a pilot or port officer as defined in section 2 of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952 [Ordinance 70/1952]) having for the time being command or charge of the vessel, or lawfully acting as the master thereof; ―mixture containing oil‖ means— (a) a mixture with an oil content of one hundred parts or more in one million parts of the mixture; or (b) a mixture with such oil content as is prescribed by the Minister charged with responsibility for the environment by order in the Gazette to be a mixture containing oil for the purposes of this Act; ―oil‖ means— (a) crude oil, diesel oil, fuel oil or lubricating oil; or (b) any other description of oil which is prescribed by the Minister charged with responsibility for the environment Exclusive Economic Zone 11 by order in the Gazette to be oil for the purposes of this Act; ―owner‖, in relation to a vessel, means any person or body of persons, whether incorporated or not, by whom the vesselis owned and includes any charterer, sub-charterer, lessee or sublessee of the vessel; ―pollutant‖ means any substance which, if introduced into the sea, is liable to create hazards to human health or to harm living resources in the sea or other marine life, or to damage amenities or interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes any substance that is prescribed by the Minister charged with responsibility for the environment by order in the Gazette to be a pollutant for the purposes of this Act; ―State‖ shall have the meaning assigned to that expression under international law; ―territorial sea‖ means the territorial waters of Malaysia determined in accordance with the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance, No. 7 of 1969 [P.U. (A) 307A/1969]; ―this Act‖ includes regulations and other subsidiary legislation made under this Act and anything done under this Act or under such regulations or other subsidiary legislation; ―vessel‖ includes every description of ship or floating or submarine craft or structure; ―waste‖ includes— (a) any matter, whether liquid, solid, gaseous or radioactive, which is discharged, emitted, deposited or dumped in the marine environment in such volume, composition or manner as to cause an alteration of the environment; or (b) any matter which is prescribed by the Minister charged with responsibility for the environment by order in the Gazette to be waste for the purposes of this Act. 12 Laws of Malaysia ACT 311 PART II EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE The exclusive economic zone of Malaysia 3. (1) The exclusive economic zone of Malaysia, as proclaimed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong vide P.U. (A) 115/1980, is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea of Malaysia and, subject to subsections (2) and (4), extends to a distance of two hundred nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. (2) Where there is an agreement in force on the matter between Malaysia and a State with an opposite or adjacent coast, questions relating to the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of that agreem