In 1958, the United Nations held its first Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS I), where four conventions were adopted: the Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone, Convention on the High Seas, Convention on Fishing and Conservation of Living Resources of the High Seas, and Convention on the Continental Shelf. The environmental protections granted by the protections, however, were weak, and they neither established acomprehensive duty to protect marine environments, nor assigned duties and responsibilities to States to address marine pollution. None of these four conventions came into force.
The second United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS II), which was held in 1960, failed to reach an agreement on the extent of the territorial sea.
The United Nations Third Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) began in 1973 and concluded in 1982. It resulted in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was signed in 1982 and came into force...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Boyle AE (1985)Marine pollution under the law of the sea convention. Am JInt Law 79:347–372
Craig RK, Dernbach JC (2002)Oceans and estuaries. In: Dernbach JC (ed) Stumbling toward sustainability. Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC, pp227–255
Dupuy P-M (1991)Soft law and the international law of the environment. Mich JInt Law 12:420–435
Hunter D, Salzman J, Zaelke D(2002a) International environmental law and policy 2/e. Foundation Press, New York
Hunter D, Salzman J, Zaelke D(2002b) International environmental law and policy: treaty supplement, 2ndedn. Foundation Press, New York
Kwiatkowska B(1989) The two hundred mile exclusive economic zone in the new law of the sea, vol14, Publications on Ocean Development. Springer, Dordrecht
Kwiatkowska B(2007) The law of the sea related cases in the international court of justice during the presidency of judge Stephen M. Schwebel, The law of the sea series. Vandeplas Publishing, Lake Mary
Malloy BA (2010)On thin ice: how abinding treaty regime can save the Arctic.Hastings West-Northwest JEnviron Policy 16:471–511
Stephens DG (1999)The impact of the 1982 law of the sea convention on the conduct of peacetime naval/military operations. Calif West Int Law J29:283–311
U.N. Doc (1982)A/CONF.62/122, reprinted in 21 I.L.M. 1261
Van Dyke JM, Zaelke D, Hewison G(1993) Freedom for the seas in the 21st century: ocean governance and environmental harmony. Island Press, Washington, DC
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Brisman, A. (2011). United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In: Chatterjee, D.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_661
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_661
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9159-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9160-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law