The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 provides the right of transit passage through straits. At the same time, the right of innocent passage through straits, as established by the International Court of Justice in the Corfu Channel case (United Kingdom v. Albania), has gained widespread recognition. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the concepts of "innocent passage through straits" and "transit passage" through the lens of the historical development of each of these rights, as well as by examining the practice of states during the discussion of the draft of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 and other international conventions, and the subsequent application of the provisions of the articles regarding transit passage through straits. This study is based on international legal acts, acts of international judicial institutions, official statements by state representatives, as well as doctrinal research by foreign authors. The methodological framework of the research consists of general scientific (methods of logical and systemic analysis, dialectical method, methods of deduction and induction) and private scientific (historical-legal, comparative-legal, formal-legal methods) methods of cognition. The author concludes that innocent passage through straits, as mentioned by the International Court of Justice in the Corfu Channel case (United Kingdom v. Albania) and subsequently codified in the Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone 1958, is not identical to the right of transit passage provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982. The analysis of state practice and doctrinal positions does not allow one to determine an established international custom regarding transit passage through straits. However, there is a high probability that the right of transit passage provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 will develop in the future and replace the right of innocent passage through straits.
Aleksandr Vasil'evich Grechishnikov (Sun,) studied this question.