Court rulings in the United States and Germany have found that Sealand has no legal status, indicating that the area is part of the internationally recognized maritime territory of the United Kingdom, and that its supposed territory, HM Fort Roughs, has never ceased to be property of the UK Ministry of Defence.
Sealand's claim (i.e., Paddy Roy Bates and family's claim) is that it is an independent state, based on the following three propositions:
1. When Paddy Roy Bates and his associates occupied Roughs Tower/HM Fort Roughs in 1967 it was located in international waters, outside the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom and all other sovereign states. Sealand claims de jure legitimacy on this basis.
2. The interactions of the UK and German governments with Sealand constitute de facto recognition. Sealand claims de facto legitimacy on this basis.
3. That the independence of Sealand from the UK was upheld in a 1968 British court decision in which the judge held that Roughs Tower was in international waters, and therefore was not under the jurisdiction of the UK.
