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Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention, sets rules for the use of the world's oceans. The Convention was concluded in 1982 to replace four 1958 treaties that were out of date. UNCLOS came into force in 1994, and to date, 154 countries and the European Community have joined the Convention. The Convention establishes a comprehensive legal framework to regulate all ocean space, its uses and resources. It contains provisions relating to the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the continental shelf, the exclusive economic zone and the high seas. It also provides for the protection and preservation of the marine environment, for marine scientific research and for the development and transfer of marine technology. One of the most important parts of the Convention concerns the exploration for and exploitation of the resources of the seabed and ocean floor and its subsoil, beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. The Convention declares the ocean areas and their resources to be "the common heritage of mankind."
Part XV of the Convention lays down a comprehensive system for the settlement of disputes that might arise with respect to the interpretation and application of the Convention. It requires states to settle their disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention by peaceful means indicated in the United Nations Charter. The mechanism established by the Convention provides for four alternative means for the settlement of disputes:
- The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea;
- The International Court of Justice;
- An arbitral tribunal constituted in accordance with Annex VII to the Convention; and
- A special arbitral tribunal constituted in accordance with Annex VIII to the Convention.
The Convention established a number of autonomous intergovernmental organizations, including the Intergovernmental Maritime Organization, the International Whaling Commission and the International Seabed Authority.
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