1 The Doctrine of Innocent Passage and threats to National Security: Should the Law of the State be reformed? Dr. Dan Malika Gunasekera * Abstract For centuries, uses of the seas exercised enormous freedom of navigation until seafaring became a mode of transportation for trade between colonial powers and the colonized territories. It was Hugo Grotius who articulated the concept of the ‘freedom of the seas’ as a means of enabling the East Indies Company to take to the maritime waters in search of essential commodities for the Dutch that led to claim a ‘right’ to enter another’s territory. Since the start of such imperial dominance, there have been many opinions and views expressed over the use of differing maritime zones that later became subjects of State sovereignty and of their jurisdiction competences. By 1958, States became much concerned over its territorial borders thus extending their jurisdictional rights to be either conventionally defined or persistently object to other’s claims. These conventional undertakings that later became part of customary international law by virtue of opinio juris or by constant state practice have helped evolved the establishment of a stable platform for sea related activities. The doctrine of the ‘right of innocent passage’ is one of those important elements that take centre stage in both customary approaches as well as in modern contemporary moves. It is the intention of this paper to have an insight into the modern day practices of the maritime trade, and analyse the co-existence of State practices with precautionary means of protecting national security, law and order. It is further, the intention to check and balance this co-existence between the powers of the coastal-States and rights of flag-States in modern shipping businesses involving some leading disputes faced by Sri Lanka as an emerging maritime hub of the South Asian region. Finally, it is expected to suggest necessary reforms that are essential to be carried out with a view to placing the country at an important position in the world map among responsible coastal-States. Innocent Passage: Where did it all began? * The author is an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka and holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from University of Utrecht, The Netherlands in International Law and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from University of Hamburg, Germany. He is a scholar of Int’l Max Planck Research School for Maritime Affairs, Germany. He has a legal practice spanning for over 19 years, and has held the position of the Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, CINEC Maritime Campus, Sri Lanka. He is presently (2015) the Executive Director of Ceylon Shipping Corporation appointed by the Hon. Minister of Ports and Shipping of the Government of Sri Lanka