Request
When and by what legislation did the Crown Estate acquire the seabed around Shetland?
Response
The ownership of Scotland's seabed, and much of its foreshore, are ancient possessions of the Crown. There is a legal presumption that an area of seabed or foreshore is owned by the Crown, unless there is evidence that it has been acquired by someone else.
Ownership of Scotland's territorial seabed around Shetland, which is the area of seabed from high watermark out to 12 nautical miles, is currently vested in the Crown. The rights from 12 nautical miles out to 200 nautical miles (known as the Exclusive Economic Zone) are also vested in the Crown.
The Continental Shelf Act 1964 extended The Crown Estate’s ownership of the seabed up to 12 nautical miles from the UK’s coast. Scotland Act 2016 created the provision for the Crown Estate’s assets in Scotland to be transferred to Crown Estate Scotland.
Crown Estate Scotland is a public corporation that manages assets in Scotland – including virtually all seabed of coastal waters, and certain other seabed rights– on behalf of the Crown and for the benefit of the Scottish people. Together these assets form the Scottish Crown Estate (‘the Estate’).
Ownership of the Estate lies with the Monarch in right of the Crown and management responsibility currently sits with Crown Estate Scotland. The Crown Estate Scotland (Interim Management) Order 2017 and The Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019 set out the current provisions for the management of the Scottish Crown Estate.
For further information about Crown Estate Scotland please find our Key information | Crown Estate Scotland on our website.
Please note Crown Estate Scotland does not conduct research into title deeds, including historic title deed boundaries, on behalf of individuals. For research regarding title deeds, you can contact Registers of Scotland.
You can search their website for listings you are interested in by area Search by map - ScotLIS - Registers of Scotland
You can contact Registers of Scotland for further assistance here: Contact us - Registers of Scotland (ros.gov.uk)
Follow up question
Section 1 of the Continental Shelf Act 1964 states:
“Exploration and exploitation of continental shelf.
(1) Any rights exercisable by the United Kingdom outside territorial waters with respect to the sea bed and subsoil and their natural resources, except so far as they are exercisable in relation to coal, are hereby vested in Her Majesty.”
Do you have information on legislation defining “Any rights exercisable by the United Kingdom” before the Continental Shelf Act 1964?
Response
Crown Estate Scotland does not hold information about legislation defining “Any rights exercisable by the United Kingdom” before the Continental Shelf Act 1964.
As per the introduction set out in the Continental Shelf Act 1964, it is “an act to make provision as to the exploration and exploitation of the continental shelf; to enable effect to be given to certain provisions of the Convention on the High Seas done in Geneva on 29th April 1958; and for matters connected with those purposes”. This was a United Nations Convention.
Under FOI(S)A public authorities are required to provide access to recorded information but do not offer interpretations of legislation or legal advice. This means that while we can provide copies of or links to relevant laws or official guidance documents, we are unable to explain how the law applies to specific situations or offer opinions on its meaning.
If you require legal interpretation, you may wish to seek independent legal advice or refer to further publicly available legal resources and official legal publications.
