Roughs Tower, constructed in 1942 and inhabited by 150-300 Royal Navy personnel, had been deserted since the end of World War II. On September 2, 1967, the fort was occupied by [Paddy Roy Bates]?, a British citizen and [pirate radio]? broadcaster, who claimed it as his own. At that time, the United Kingdom claimed territorial waters of three nautical miles from its coast. Thus, Roughs Tower was in international waters, outside the territorial jurisdiction of any state. After consulting with several laywers, Bates declared the fort to be an independent state, named it Sealand, and declared himself and his wife, [Joan Bates]?, to be its sovereign rulers -- [Prince Roy]? and [Princess Joan]?.
In 1968, the British navy attempted to evict the new inhabitants of Roughs Tower. Prince Roy responded by firing several shots at the vessels, and was brought before a British court. The court delivered its decision on November 25, 1968: since the incident happened outside of British territory, it was outside of the court's jurisdiction.
In 1978, while Prince Roy was away, a German man and several Dutch citizens forcibly took over Roughs Tower and held Prince Roy's son, Michael, captive, releasing Michael several days later in Holland. Prince Roy enlisted some well-armed help and, in a helicopter assault, retook the fortress, holding the invaders as "[prisoners of war]?". The governments of the Netherlands and Germany petitioned the British government for their release, but the United Kingdom disavowed all responsibility, citing the 1968 court decision. Germany then sent a diplomat to Roughs Tower to negotiate for their citizen's release. Prince Roy released his prisoners, and claimed that the visit by the diplomat constituted de facto recognition of Sealand by Germany.
No state in the world has recognized the existence of 'Sealand', and none is ever likely to do so. The criteria for statehood under international law are generally accepted to be those contained in the [Montevideo convention]?, namely a defined territory, permanent population, government and the capacity to enter into relationships with other states. As these criteria are commonly understood, a "permanent population" entails a population of a reasonable size; while no precise minimum can be stated, and some generally recognized states have a population of only a few thousand, three or four people cannot be considered to be within the reasonable minimum. Similar arguments can be made with respect to the other three Montevideo convention criteria.
Another legal argument against the existence of 'Sealand' exists in the constitutive theory of recognition (a theory widely but not universally accepted in international law), which states that recognition by other states is a condition for statehood. Since no other state recognizes the existence of Sealand, Sealand is not a state under the theory's criteria.
And ignoring legal arguments, a few (under ten) people living on a tower in the sea cannot be considered to be a state in any practical sense.
Since the 1968 court decision, the United Kingdom has extended its territorial sea to twelve nautical miles, in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Roughs Tower now lies within British territorial waters, and as such is subject to British jurisdiction. Although no case regarding the Tower has considered the issue since then, it is highly unlikely that a court considering the issue today would follow the 1968 judgement. Bates argues that since Roughs Tower is allgedly part of 'Sealand', the extension of the British territorial waters to include Sealand is invalid. However, Bates argument would almost certaintly be rejected by any British court on the grounds that the United Kingdom does not recognize the existence of Sealand.
The United Kingdom has not made any efforts to assert its authority over Roughs Tower, but that is due to not having any reason to do so, rather than any acceptance on its behalf of Bates' claims.
In an attempt to bolster his claims for the existence of Sealand, Bates has adopted for Sealand the trappings of statehood, including a constitution, a flag, and a national anthem, [postage stamps]?, currency, and passports. However, such trappings are irrelevant to an entity's status as a state.
Roy's son Michael entered into a partnership with Ryan Lackey, founder of HavenCo, to use Sealand as an electronic [data haven]?, offering secure colocation?. HavenCo has been running services from Sealand since May 2000.
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