The UN convention on the Law of the Sea: a chronology.

The First UN Conference on the Law of the Sea was held at Geneva in 1958 and resulted in the adoption of four conventions: on the high seas; on the territorial sea and the contiguous zone; on the continental shelf; and on fishing and conservation of the living resources of the high seas. Those conventions were based on drafts prepared by the International Law Commission.

The Second UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, also held at Geneva in 1960, made unsuccessful attempts to reach agreement on the breadth of the territorial sea and on fishing zones.

In response to growing concern over the possible militarization of the seabed and amid calls for the designation of the resources of the deep seabed as the common heritage of mankind, the General Assembly established in 1967 an ad hoc committee.

Having considered the ad hoc committee's initial report, the Assembly in 1968 established the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Seabed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction. The Committee began work in 1969 on a statement of legal principles to govern the uses of the seabed and its resources.

Unanimous adoption of 1970 Declaration

In 1970, the General Assembly in 1970 unanimously adopted the Committee's Declaration of Principles, which stated that "the seabed and ocean floor, and the subsoil thereof, beyond the limits of national jurisdiction ... as well as the resources of the area are the common heritage of mankind", to be reserved for peaceful purposes, not subject to national appropriation and not to be explored or exploited, except in accordance with an international regime to be established.

The Assembly, recognizing that the problems of ocean space were interrelated and needed to be considered as a whole, also decided to convene a new conference to prepare a single, comprehensive treaty.

This new treaty was to encompass all aspects of the establishment of a regime and machinery for the international seabed area, as well as such issues as the regimes of the high seas, the continental shelf and territorial sea (including the question of limits), fishing rights, preservation of the marine environment, scientific research, and access to the sea by land-locked States.

The Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea opened with a brief organizational session in 1973.

At its second session (Caracas, Venezuela, 1974) the Conference endorsed the Seabed Committee's recommendation that it work on a new law of the sea treaty as a "package deal", with no one article or section to be approved before all the others were in place. This reflected not only the interdependence of all the issues involved, but also the need to reach a delicate balance of compromises if the final document was to prove viable.

The first informal text of a comprehensive law was prepared as a basis for negotiation in 1975. Over the next seven years, in Conference committees and in special negotiating and working groups, the text underwent several major revisions.

The final text of the new convention was approved by the Conference on 30 April 1982, by a vote of 130 to 4, with 17 abstentions. When it was opened for signature at Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 10 December 1982, the new UN Convention on the Law of the Sea was signed by 117 States and two other entities, representing the largest number of signatures ever affixed to a treaty on its first day.

By the end of the period of signature, on 9 December 1984, the Convention had been signed by 159 States and several other entities--the UN Council for Namibia on behalf of Namibia, the 12-nation European Economic Community, the Cook Islands and Niue.

What the Convention covers

The Convention covers almost all ocean space and its uses, including navigation and overflight, resource exploration and exploitation, conservation and pollution, fishing and shipping.

Its 320 articles and nine annexes constitute a guide for behaviour by States in the world's oceans, defining maritime zones, laying down rules for drawing sea boundaries, assigning legal rights, duties and responsibilities to States, and providing machinery for the settlement of disputes.

Some of the Convention's key features are:

* Coastal States would exercise sovereignty over their territorial sea up to 12 nautical miles in breadth, but foreign vessels would be allowed peaceful "innocent passage" through those waters;

* Ships and aircraft of all countries would be allowed "transit passage" through straits used for international navigation; States alongside the straits would be able to regulate navigational and other aspects of passage;

* Archipelagic States, made up of a group or groups of closely related islands and interconnecting waters, would have sovereignty over a sea area enclosed by straight lines drawn between the outermost points of the islands; all other States would enjoy the right of passage through designated sea lanes;

* Coastal States would have sovereign rights in the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with respect to natural resources and certain economic activities, and would also exercise jurisdiction over marine science research and environmental protection; all other States would have freedom of navigation and overflight in the zone, as well as freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines;

* Land-locked and geographically disadvantages States would have the opportunity to participate in exploiting part of the zone's fisheries on an equitable basis when the coastal State could not harvest them all itself; highly migratory species of fish and marine mammals would be accorded special protection;

* Coastal States would have sovereign rights over the continental shelf (the national area of the seabed) for its exploration and exploitation; the shelf would extend at least 200 nautical miles from the shore, and more under specified circumstances;

* Coastal States would share with the international community part of the revenue they would derive from exploiting resources from any part of their shelf beyond 200 miles; a Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf would make recommendations to States on matters related to the Shelf's outer boundaries when it extends beyond 200 nautical miles; (The establishment and servicing of the Commission has been entrusted to the Secretary-General.)

* All States would enjoy the traditional freedoms of navigation, overflight, scientific research and fishing on the high seas; they would be obliged to adopt, or cooperate with other States in adopting, measures to manage and conserve living resources;

* The territorial sea, EEZ and continental shelf of islands would be determined in accordance with rules applicable to land territory, but rocks which could not sustain human habitation or economic life of their own would have no economic zone or continental shelf;

* States bordering enclosed or semienclosed seas would be expected to cooperate in managing living resources and environmental and research policies and activities;

* Land-locked States would have the right of access to and from the sea and would enjoy freedom of transit through the territory of transit States;

* States would be bound to prevent and control marine pollution and would be liable for damage caused by violation of their international obligations to combat such pollution;

* All marine scientific research in the EEZ and on the continental shelf would be subject to the consent of the coastal State, but they would in most cases be obliged to grant consent to other States when the research was to be conducted for peaceful purposes and fulfilled specific criteria;

* States would be bound to promote the development and transfer of marine technology "on fair and reasonable terms and conditions", with proper regard for all legitimate interests;

* States would be obliged to settle by peaceful means their disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the convention;

* Disputes could be submitted to an International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to be established under the Convention, to the International Court of Justice or to arbitration. Conciliation would also be available and, in certain circumstances, submission to it would be compulsory. The Tribunal would have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes concerning deep-seabed mining.

Issue of deep-seabed mining

Under the provisions of the Convention, all exploring and exploiting activities in the international seabed Area would be under the control of the International Seabed Authority; the Authority would be authorized to conduct its own mining operations through its operating arm, the Enterprise, and also to contract with private and State ventures to give them mining rights in the Area, so that they could operate in parallel with the Authority.

The first generation of seabed prospectors, dubbed "pioneer investors" under resolution II of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, would have guarantees of production once mining was authorized.

Objections to the Convention's provisions in this area dealt mainly with the detailed procedures for production authorization from the deep seabed; complex financial rules of contracts; decision-making in the Council of the Seabed Authority; and mandatory transfer of technology.

To overcome these objections, the UN Secretary-General undertook informal consultations with all interested parties, lasting nearly four years. As a result, the General Assembly adopted on 28 July 1994 the Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI.

The Agreement, in essence, removes the obstacles that had stood in the way of universal acceptance by substituting general provisions for the detailed procedures contained in the Convention and by leaving it to the Authority to determine at a future date the exact nature of the rules it would adopt with respect to the authorization of deep-seabed mining operations.

The Agreement also removed the obligation for mandatory transfer of technology and ensured the representation of certain countries, or groups of countries, in the Council, while giving those countries certain powers over decision-making.

Impact of the Convention

Even prior to its entry into force, the Convention had provided States with an indispensable foundation for their conduct in all aspects of ocean space, its uses and resources. States have consistently, through national and international legislation and related decision-making, asserted the authority of the Convention as the preeminent international legal instrument on all matters within its purview.

Thus far, its major impact has been on the establishment by 129 coastal States of a territorial sea not exceeding 12 nautical miles, and by 112 coastal States of EEZs or exclusive fishery zones not exceeding 200 nautical miles, all in conformity with the Convention's provisions.

Another area positively affected is the passage of ships in the territorial sea or through straits used for international navigation. The Convention's provisions relating to that matter have been incorporated into the legislation of many coastal States. Although designed primarily to reflect the law of the sea in time of peace, the Convention has influenced the law of naval warfare, in particular the rules of neutrality. The establishment of a territorial sea and precise rules for innocent, transit and archipelagic sea-land passage have contributed to the clarification of the rights and duties of neutral States and those of belligerent forces. These rules have assumed some importance in the context of recent conflicts, particularly the Persian Gulf War.