About
Sealand: Sealand was founded as a sovereign Principality in 1967 in
international waters, six miles off the eastern shores of Britain.
The island fortess is conveniently situated from 65 to 100 miles from
the coasts of France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. The official language
of Sealand is English and the Sealand Dollar has a fixed exchange
rate of one U.S. dollar. Passports and stamps have been in circulation
since 1969, however, contrary to many misleading websites and news
articles, Sealand passports are not for sale, and anyone offering
such are selling forgeries. Within a radius of 500 miles of Sealand
live more than 200 million people who enjoy some of the highest standards
of living in the world. This area also encompasses the financial,
industrial and cultural heart of Europe. The history of Sealand is
a story of a struggle for liberty. Sealand was founded on the principle
that any group of people dissatisfied with the oppressive laws and
restrictions of existing nation states may declare independence in
any place not claimed to be under the jurisdiction of another sovereign
entity. The location chosen was Roughs Tower, an island fortress created
in World War II by Britain and subsequently abandoned to the jurisdiction
of the High Seas. The independence of Sealand was upheld in a 1968
British court decision where the judge held that Roughs Tower stood
in international waters and did not fall under the legal jurisdiction
of the United Kingdom. This gave birth to Sealand's national motto
of E Mare Libertas, or "From the Sea, Freedom". (keeping in mind that
translations from Latin are an art:) Prince Roy's heir apparent, Michael
of Sealand, wrote the following statement in relation to a recent
incident involving a fake Sealand
 |
Prince Roy and Princess Joan shortly after taking possession of Sealand in the late 1960's |
passport. It can be extended to other situations where basic facts
regarding Sealand have been misrepresented. This website is the only
official website of the Government of Sealand. The website that was
originally constructed for Sealand is located at: http:// www.fruitsofthesea.demon.co.uk
/ sealand/, and is maintained there for historical purposes. "We would
like to make it clear that after 32 years of pioneering work, and
the blood sweat and tears that have been part of the rich adventure
in the formation and establishment of the Principality of Sealand,
our web site is the only official web site of the Principality of
Sealand. It has come to our attention that others are claiming to
represent us on the Internet and in the press, even showing photographs
of my family and offering membership of business foundations, fake
Sealand passports, and other services. Some of these people, it seems,
were involved in the terrorist attack on Sealand in the 1970s that
nearly resulted in loss of life, and did involve an international
incident with the British, Dutch and German governments." (Michael
of Sealand) History of Sealand During World War II, the United Kingdom
decided to establish a number of military bases, the purpose of which
was to defend England against German air raids. These sea forts housed
enough troops to man and maintain artillery designed to shoot down
German aircraft and ballistic missiles. They were situated along the
east coast of England on the edge of the English territorial waters.
One of these bases, consisting of concrete and steel construction,
was the famous royal fort Roughs Tower situated slightly north of
the estuary region of the Thames River. In contrast to the original
plan to locate the tower within the sovereign territory of England,
this fortress was situated at a distance of approximately 7 sea miles
from the coast, which is more than double the then applicable 3 mile
range of territorial waters; to put it briefly, this island was situated
in the international waters of the North Sea. After WWII ended, the
troops were withdrawn from all bases by the British Admiralty. None
of them was ever used by the United Kingdom again, leaving the forts
deserted and abandoned. Except for the aforementioned fortress, the
bases were subsequently pulled down. This resulted in the portentous
uniqueness of the fortress. Fort Roughs Tower, situated at the high
seas, had been deserted and abandoned, "res delicta" and "terra nullis".
From a legal point of view, it therefore constituted extra-national
territory. The birth of Sealand This paved the way for occupation.
On 2 September 1967, former English major Paddy Roy Bates formally
occupied the island and settled there with his family. After intensive
discussions with skillful English lawyers, Roy Bates proclaimed the
island his own state. Claiming jus gentium, he bestowed upon himself
the title of Prince and the title of Princess to his wife and subsequently
made the state the Principality of Sealand. Roy Bates, henceforth
Roy of Sealand, exerted state authority on the island and thus was
an absolute sovereign. The royal family and other persons that have
declared loyalty to Sealand have occupied Sealand ever since. Initial
challenge to Sealand's sovereignty By late 1968, the British navy
had become aware of the new situation off the coast of England. They
were interested in terminating the state of affairs brought about
by an error committed by the most senior military authorities without
causing too much uproar. Units of the navy entered the territorial
waters claimed by Roy of Sealand. As he was aware of his sovereignty,
Roy of Sealand threatened the navy by undertaking defensive activity.
Shots were fired from Sealand in warning. Since Roy of Sealand was
still an English citizen, he was thus accused of extensive crimes
in Britain and was summoned to an English court. The result of this
lawsuit in Chelmsfort/Essex was a spectacular success for Sealand's
claim to 
sovereignty.
In its judgment of 25 November 1968, the court declared that it was
not competent in Roy of Sealand's case as it could not exert any jurisdiction
outside of British national territory. This is the first de facto
recognition of the Principality of Sealand. English law had ruled
that Sealand was not part of the United Kingdom, nor did any other
nation claim it, hence Prince Roy's declaration of a new Sovereign
State was de facto upheld. Building a new nation Seven years later
on 25 September 1975, Roy of Sealand proclaimed the Constitution of
the Principality. Over time, other national treasures were developed,
such as the flag of the Principality of Sealand, its national anthem,
stamps, as well as gold and silver coins launched as Sealand Dollars.
Finally, passports of the Principality of Sealand were issued to those
who had helped Sealand in some way, though they were never for sale.
Sealand fights off invaders (and wins a war) In August of 1978, a
number of Dutch men came to Sealand in the employ of a German businessman.
They were there to discuss business dealings with Sealand. While Roy
was away in Britain, these men kidnapped Prince Roy's son Michael,
and took Sealand by force. Soon after, Roy recaptured the island with
a group of his own men and held the attackers as prisoners of war.
During the time that he held the prisoners, the Governments of the
Netherlands and Germany petitioned for their release. First they asked
England to intervene in the matter, but the British government cited
their earlier court decision as evidence that they made no claim to
the territory of Sealand. Then, in an act of de facto recognition
of Sealand's sovereignty, Germany sent a diplomat directly to Sealand
to negotiate for the release of their citizen. Roy first released
the Dutch citizens, as the war was over, and the Geneva Convention
requires the release of all prisoners. The German was held longer,
as he had accepted a Sealand Passport, and therefore was guilty of
treason. Prince Roy, who was grateful that the incident had not resulted
in a loss of life, and did not want to bloody the reputation of Sealand,
eventually released him as well. Extension of territorial waters On
October 1st, 1987, Britain extended its territorial waters from 3
to 12 nautical miles. The previous day, Prince Roy declared the extension
of Sealand's territorial waters to be a like 12 nautical miles, so
that right of way from the open sea to Sealand would not be blocked
by British claimed waters. No treaty has been signed between Britain
and Sealand to divide up the overlapping areas, but a general policy
of dividing the area between the two countries down the middle can
be assumed. International law does not allow the claim of new land
during the extension of sea rights, so Sealand's sovereignty was safely
"grandfathered" in. Britain has no more right to Sealand's territory
than Sealand has to the territory of the British coastline that falls
within its claimed 12 nautical mile arc. Some nations might have tried
to use this as an excuse to try to claim all of the territory of the
weaker and not well recognized nation regardless of international
law, however, this has not been the case. Britain has made no attempt
to take Sealand, and the British government still treats it as an
independent State. Prince Roy continues to pay no British National
Insurance during the time he resides on Sealand subsequent to a ruling
by the British Department of Health and Social Security's solicitor's
branch. Also, there was another fire arms incident in 1990 when a
ship strayed too near Sealand and warning shots were again fired.
The ship's crew made complaints to British authorities and a newspaper
article ran detailing the incident. Yet despite Britain's severe prohibition
of firearms, British authorities have never pursued the matter. This
is a clear indication that Britain's Home Office still considers Sealand
to be outside their zone of control. Fake Sealand passports In 1997,
forged Sealand passports started tuning up around the world. some
of these were used to open bank accounts under false names in various
countries. Since few people have ever seen a legitimate Sealand passport
(less than 300 exist today) it was difficult for these to be easily
detected as forgeries. The source of these forgeries was traced back
to the same German man who was involved in the earlier attempt to
take Sealand by force. Dubbing himself Minister of Finance, he had
created a fake Sealand Business Foundation and boasts that he has
sold over 150,000 fake Sealand Passports to all comers. Thus there
are now unfortunately 500 times more forged Sealand Passports in circulation
than real ones. Many of the forged passports were apparently sold
to people leaving Hong Kong at the time of Chinese reoccupation for
US$1000 each. Current Views of the Principality of Sealand The current
government of the Principality of Sealand considers itself to be sovereign,
and to have been recognized "de facto" as such on the basis of the
aforementioned statements by multiple world governments. It states
the following: "The Principality of Sealand recognizes jus gentium
and has undertaken to regulate any activity with a view to compliance
with jus gentium and international law or to have it regulated." The
existence of the Principality of Sealand as a state and the "de facto"
recognition of its sovereignty has been confirmed by the opinions
of renowned experts of international law who have interpreted jus
gentium and have stated that the Principality of Sealand is a state
based on international law and a number of acts undertaken by other
states indicating their "de facto" recognition of Sealand. The United
Kingdom's opinion would seem the most pertinent to the matter, as
it is the closest nation to Sealand. Without its "de facto" recognition,
Sealand would have to actually be claimed as part of Britain, as it
would be inside of Britain's stated claim to territorial watters.
However, persons contacting the British "Home Office", were told that
Sealand is outside of British territory, and that the "Foreign Office"
should be contacted. As of 5 June 2000, the day the story about HavenCo
broke in the news, the Home Office began been telling journalists
that Sealand is a part of the United Kingdom. This contradicts more
than 30 years of the same question receiving the opposite answer.
The Home Office has never contacted anyone involved with Sealand directly.
A new era on the internet While Sealand has been the pride and joy
of Prince Roy and his family for over 30 years, the Prince's recent
poor health caused the Royal Family to consider moving off of Sealand,
and making it available for other projects. In late 1999, the founders
of HavenCo began negotiations with the Royal Family to take over control
of the new country and begin operations of its secure colocation services.
By early 2000 HavenCo and the Royal Family struck a deal. HavenCo
currently has an exclusive lease to all the physical territory of
Sealand for its datacenter operations.