Sea — Continental shelf Offshore — mineral rights — Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf, 1958 — Rights of coastal States to explore and exploit the continental shelf — Whether such rights giving rise to proprietary rights in municipal law — Right of Newfoundland to mineral and other natural resources offshore Newfoundland — Whether proprietary rights — Whether acquisition of such rights under municipal law — Newfoundland entering into Confederation — Whether federal or provincial property and jurisdiction — Date at which rights respecting the continental shelf came into existence

Sea — Territorial sea — Rights of coastal State to exploit natural resources — Position of Newfoundland as part of Canada — Whether offshore rights vest in federal or provincial government — Relevance of original status of Newfoundland as a self-governing dominion

States — Dominions of the British Commonwealth — Newfoundland — Whether possessing sovereign rights over territorial sea — Commission for Government of Newfoundland between 1933 and 1949 — Accession to Canada in 1949 — The law of Canada