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The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS),
also called the Law of theSea Conventionor the Law of the Sea
treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from
the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS III), which took placebetween !"# and !$%& The Law of
the Sea Con'ention defines the rights and responsibilities of
nations with respect to their use of the worlds oceans,
establishing guidelines for businesses, the
en'ironment, and the management of marine natural
resources&The Con'ention, concluded in!$%, replaced four !$
treaties& UNCLOS came into force in !!*, a +ear after
u+anabecame the -.th nation to sign the treat+&/01s of 1ugust
%.#, - countries and the2uropean
Unionha'e 3oined in the Con'ention& 4owe'er, it is uncertain
as to what e5tent the Con'entioncodifiescustomar+ international
law&
6hile the Secretar+ eneral of the United Nations recei'es
instruments of ratification and
accession and the UN pro'ides support for meetings of states
part+ to the Con'ention, the UNhas no direct operational role in
the implementation of the Con'ention& There is, howe'er, a
role
pla+ed b+ organi7ations such as the International 8aritime
Organi7ation, the International6haling Commission,and the
International Seabed 1uthorit+ (IS9)&(The IS9 was
established
b+ the UN Con'ention&)
Historical background[edit]
The UNCLOS replaces the older and weaker freedom of the
seasconcept, dating from the "th
centur+: national rights were limited to a specified belt of
water e5tending from a nationscoastlines, usuall+ three nautical
miles, according to the cannon shot rule de'eloped b+ the
;utch 3uristCornelius 'an 9+nkershoek&1ll waters be+ond
national boundaries were consideredinternational waters: free to
all nations, but belonging to none of them (the mare liberum
principle promulgated b+rotius)&
In the earl+ %.th centur+, some nations e5pressed their desire
to e5tend national claims: toinclude mineral resources, to
protectfish stocks,and to pro'ide the means to
enforcepollutioncontrols& (The League of Nations called a !#.
conference at The 4ague, but no agreements
resulted&) Using the customar+ international law principle
of a nations right to protect its naturalresources, mile ( km)
limit, while -- nations had set a %>
nautical>mile (%% km) territorial limit and eight had set a
%..>nautical>mile (#". km) limit& 1s of%$ 8a+ %..$, onl+
two countries still use the three>mile ( km) limit:
?ordanand
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Out to % nautical miles (%% kilometresB * miles) from the
baseline, the coastal state is free toset laws, regulate use, and
use an+ resource& Dessels were gi'en the right of innocent
passage
through an+ territorial waters, with strategic straits allowing
the passage of militar+ craft astransit passage, in that na'al
'essels are allowed to maintain postures that would be illegal
in
territorial waters& Innocent passage is defined b+ the
con'ention as passing through waters in
an e5peditious and continuous manner, which is not pre3udicial
to the peace, good order or thesecurit+ of the coastal state&
Eishing, polluting, weapons practice, and sp+ing are not
innocent,and submarines and other underwater 'ehicles are re=uired
to na'igate on the surface and to
show their flag& Nations can also temporaril+ suspend
innocent passage in specific areas of theirterritorial seas, if
doing so is essential for the protection of its securit+&
Archielagic waters
The con'ention set the definition of 1rchipelagic States in
nautical>mile (%% km) limit, there is a further % nautical miles
(%% km) from the
territorial seabaselinelimit, the contiguous 7one, in which a
state can continue to enforce laws infour specific areas: customs,
ta5ation, immigration and pollution, if the infringement
started
within the states territor+ or territorial waters, or if this
infringement is about to occur within thestates territor+ or
territorial waters&/-0This makes the contiguous 7one ahot
pursuitarea&
"#clusive econo$ic !ones %""&s'
These e5tend from the edge of the territorial sea out to %..
nautical miles (#". kilometresB %#.miles) from
thebaseline&6ithin this area, the coastal nation has sole
e5ploitation rights o'er all
natural resources& In casual use, the term ma+ include the
territorial sea and e'en the continentalshelf& The 22As were
introduced to halt the increasingl+ heated clashes o'er fishing
rights,
althoughoilwas also becoming important& The success of an
offshoreoil platformin theulf of8e5ico in !*" was soon repeated
elsewhere in the world, and b+ !". it was technicall+
feasible to operate in waters *... metres deep& Eoreign
nations ha'e the freedom of na'igationand o'erflight, sub3ect to
the regulation of the coastal states& Eoreign states ma+ also
la+
submarine pipes and cables&
Continental shelfThe continental shelf is defined as thenatural
prolongationof the land territor+ to thecontinental
marginFs outer edge, or %.. nautical miles (#". km) from the
coastal states baseline, whiche'eris greater& 1 states
continental shelf ma+ e5ceed %.. nautical miles (#". km) until the
natural
prolongation ends& 4owe'er, it ma+ ne'er e5ceed #. nautical
miles (-. kilometresB *.. miles)from the baselineB or it ma+ ne'er
e5ceed .. nautical miles (!. kilometresB %. miles) be+ond
the %,.. meter isobath (the line connecting the depth of %,..
meters)& Coastal states ha'e theright to har'est mineral and
non>li'ing material in the subsoil of its continental shelf, to
the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocent_passagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocent_passagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_passagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_passagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contiguous_zonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseline_(sea)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseline_(sea)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseline_(sea)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_pursuithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_pursuithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_pursuithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseline_(sea)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseline_(sea)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseline_(sea)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_platformhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_platformhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_platformhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_shelfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_prolongationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_prolongationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_prolongationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_marginhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_marginhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_marginhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_marginhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_marginhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_marginhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_prolongationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_shelfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_platformhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseline_(sea)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_pursuithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseline_(sea)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contiguous_zonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_passagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocent_passage
