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THE LAW OF THE SEA - Edited.edited - Edited
THE LAW OF THE SEA - Edited.edited - Edited
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Introduction
It is also known Sea Pact Law, Sea Treaty Law or more commonly the United Nations
Convection on the Codes of the Sea, UNCLOS. It refers to the international pact which came to
be at the third Conference of United Nations on the Sea Law (UNCLOS III) that took place
between the year 1973 and 1982. The code basically defines the rights as well as obligations of
countries with respect to their utilization of world's oceans. The law instituted environmental,
business and marine management of sea natural resources principles. The law was put into use in
1994 following ratification by Guyana as the 60th nation. The European Union together 167
countries had joined the treaty by June 2016. However, there is the uncertainty about the extent
China has been in a conflict with four neighboring countries over sea territorial claims of
the South China Sea. The countries were members of Southeast Asian Nations Association
(ASEAN) and they were the Philippines, Taiwan (Brunei), Vietnam and Malaysia. The US
government backed Southeast Asian Nations Association using the Sea Law against the gradual
aggressions of China. The conflict led to seeking of Chinese agreement for the Conduct Code
(CoC) which would require China to abide by the Sea Law which would enable peaceful
resolution of the disputes. However, China resolved to settle the conflict with the countries
individually. The China conflict was a threat even to the US regional interests in terms of
navigation freedom since almost 50% of global trade moves through the region [ CITATION
Ste12 \l 1033 ].
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In the 17th century, Portuguese proclaimed large expanses of high seas claiming to be a
part of their territorial sphere. However, the claims aroused a response from Grotius elaborating
on the ideology of open seas. He explained that the seas are incapable of appropriation and are a
subject of accessibility by all nations. The view was accepted as it favored the interests of North
European states as they demanded seas freedom for purposes exploration and expansion of
businesses to the East. This led to the freedom becoming an international law principle though
not all seas were characterized. Coastal states were allowed to appropriate maritime belts within
their coastlines as territorial waters, or seas and handle it as a part of their region [ CITATION Sha08
\l 1033 ].
The Caspian Sea was also a source of conflict for five countries that surrounded it. It was
initially controlled by two states which were USSR and Iran. The two countries signed a treaty in
1935 and 1940 giving each country exclusive fishing right in coastal waters to a limit of 10
miles. The treaty was in use until the Soviet Union broke in 1991. With the breakup of the
USSR, four more states came in with questions about subsoil and seabed resources creating a
new international dispute as they tried to gain control. The international law, however, came up
with a plan to fairly divide the resources to the conflicting countries. The system originated with
rivers and lakes whereby a court used three methods to allocate the resources. First, there was the
use of equidistance rule which is often used by the international law. The second and third
methods were drawing of lines that are perpendicular to the general direction of the sea or angle
bisection formed by coastlines of two states. These methods were used to establish tentative
boundaries and later conducted a proportionality study where the court adopted the boundaries if
they were within the adequate proportionality degree and there were no historical rights to the
area likely to alter the tentative boundaries [ CITATION Ash02 \l 1033 ].
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There has been treaties which have been put into place and resolved disputes related to
i. Territorial Sea and the Contagious Zone Agreement: It is an international treaty that came
into being in 1958 but put into use in September 1964. The treaty was agreed upon
ii. Continental Shelf Agreement: It was created to codify the rules and obligations of
international law that were in relation to continental shelves. The treaty was put into
action in 1964 establishing the entitlement of a free country over mainland shoal that
surrounds it if there is. The protocol covered seven parts which were establishing or
explorations and country’s capabilities in these areas, tunnel burrowing, and regime
governing the superjacent waters as well as airspace, fishing, and delimitation. However,
apart from describing what is lawful in mainland reef areas, it outlined what was
unachievable.
iii. Existing Resources of High Sea Agreement on Fishing and Conservation of the: This
treaty was an agreement designed to solve through international cooperation the disputes
involved in conserving the living resources of high seas. It considered the development of
modern technology could endanger some resources of overexploitation. The treaty was
opened in April 1958 but was put into action in March 1966.
iv. High Seas Agreement: The treaty was formulated to codify the rules of international law
that related to high seas, also called international waters. It was signed in April 1958 but
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was put into use in September 1962. 63 states had ratified this treaty by 2013 which was
split into 37 sections. Third Sea Law conference of the United Nations replaced this
treaty introducing few new notions to the maritime boundaries law which included
k) Section 23: Hot pursuit, following vessels across borders for law purposes.
Convention on the Sea Law in their Third United Nations Meeting in Montego Bay, Jamaica
where it was established and signed. The organization, however, came in action in 1964
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establishing an international law framework over “all ocean space, its uses as well as the
resources”. The tribunal has its headquarters located in Hamburg, Germany. The tribunal also
established Authority on International Seabed. The tribunal is made up of 166 states together
with the European Union making up 167 signatures in the tribunal. It is made up of 21 serving
judges from various different states but also has a special chamber made up of 5 judges who deal
cases whose concern is the Preservation and Sustainable Utilization of Swordfish in the South
East of Pacific Ocean made up of Chile and European Community. Another special chamber of
five judges was formed after the agreement of Ghana and Ivory Coast which deals with the
the Sea Law for organizing, regulating and overseeing mineral-related actions in international
seafloor zone beyond the national authority limits, a zone underlying most of the oceans in the
world. Observer status to the United Nations by the organization was obtained in October 1996.
The authority's work is established and governed by two principal organs. These organs are the
Assembly, which comprises of all member states representatives and the Council which is
elected by the assembly and is made up of 36 members who are equally elected for equitability
of countries in representation especially those involved seafloor mineral utilization and land-
In conclusion, the establishment of the Law of the Sea brought order to the coastal states
as well as landlocked countries in the world. It ensures fair and equitable use of sea resources by
all countries. The organizations established by the convection play an important role in
Bibliography
Ivy, Ashley. 2002. International Law and Concers of the Caspian Sea Region. December 6.
%20and%20Concerns%20of%20the%20Caspian%20Sea%20Region.htm.
Patrick, Stewart M. 2012. The South China Sea and the Law of the Sea. September 5. Accessed
of-the-sea/.
Shaw, Malcolm N. 2008. INTERNATIONAL LAW. New York: Cambridge University Press.