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Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999

UK Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 1126

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ7437605 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 (SI 1999/1126) is a statutory instrument of the United Kingdom government, defining the boundaries of internal waters, territorial sea, and British fishing limits adjacent to Scotland. It was introduced in accordance with the Scotland Act 1998, which established the devolved Scottish Parliament.

Defining jurisdictions

The territorial waters defined come under the jurisdiction of Scots law, and are also used for defining the area of operation of the Scottish Government (including the Marine Directorate), SEPA, and other Scottish Government agencies and public bodies.

The territorial waters defined as not being Scottish waters come under the jurisdiction of either English law or Northern Ireland law. Because the order defines the territorial limits of the three separate jurisdictions, it comprises a piece of constitutional law in the constitution of the United Kingdom.

Scottish waters

Scottish waters is a colloquial term which can refer to different sea areas, including:

Internal waters and territorial sea adjacent to Scotland. ("Scotland" as defined in the Scotland Act 1998)

British Fishing Limits adjacent to Scotland. ("The Scottish Zone" as defined in the Scotland Act 1998)

The UK continental shelf limits adjacent to Scotland. (Part of the "Scottish offshore marine region" as defined in the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009)

Differences with existing boundaries

The maritime boundary adopted by the order is an equidistant boundary. This differed from the boundary established by the Civil Jurisdiction (Offshore Activities) Order 1987 (SI 1987/2197) which defined a straight line border between Scotland and England in the North Sea along the latitude of 55° 50' 00"N.

No oil fields were affected by this change as the new boundary only applied to fishing and had no impact on reserved matters.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999” as uK Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 1126. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Scottish, Adjacent and Waters.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1999, 1126, 1998, 2009—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1999. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Scottish, Adjacent and Waters providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999”, the useful work is to connect “uK Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 1126” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7437605. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999, 1126, 1998 and 2009.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 primary sources, Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 archive and Scottish research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.