Is a liberation of Sealand viable?

March 15, 2008 9:01 PM

What are the legal and political ramifications of an attempt to wrest control of Sealand?

It is very difficult to discover the status of the island/possession/micronation (I'll refer to it as entity) of Sealand. The legal opinions I have found online seem to suffer from heavy biases.

What is the recognized status of the entity of Sealand?
What laws govern actions on the platform and in the surrounding waters?
What established nations would oppose a "liberation" of the entity of Sealand?
Under what interpretations of Sealand's status is an attempt at liberation viable (ignoring logistics)?

Would anyone like to have an adventure?

Thanks so much for the help in answering these questions.

posted by mnop to law & government (5 comments total)

Er, doesn't your link answer most of your questions?
posted by Brocktoon at 9:13 PM on March 15

1. Unfortunately its not recognized by any single member state of the united nations. Not a single country recognizes it for a number of reasons: They lack physical land, lack a "cause" such as being a minority or suffering a prejudice, they retain their UK citizenship and there is only one or two residents of the artificial structure.

2. The laws that govern it are the constitution that was written by the prince. There have been problems on the structure before and they are generally resolved quickly. Since it is in international waters and the UK abandoned the structured long ago its governed heavily by international maritime laws. The national law is basically british common law and some decrees by the prince.

3. I'm not sure what you mean by liberation lol, do you mean a forcible take over? This has happened before actually by the prime minister i believe which lead to treason charges, imprisonments and a re-capturing of the structure.

4. Look theres a caretaker there. If you and some friends with big sticks take a boat out there you'll be able to over power him and declare yourself as owners. However due to the "conflict" nature of this, your government or nearby governments can easily just go over there and evacuate the island if theres too much trouble.
posted by Jack Feschuk at 9:27 PM on March 15

the answer is, clearly, none.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:59 PM on March 15

I've been planning on visiting Sealand, if possible, within the next few months. Mail me if you're interested!
posted by farishta at 8:08 AM on March 16

What are the legal and political ramifications of an attempt to wrest control of Sealand?

You will get mentioned on the front page of Slashdot, and perhaps make the local news in Ipswich. You will annoy the coastguard. That is about it.
posted by holgate at 9:38 AM on March 16