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THE LAW OF THE SEA

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THE LAW OF THE SEA

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

to which the convention codifies the customary international law.

Problems Regarding International Sea Use

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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Treaties Regulating Sea Use

There has been treaties which have been put into place and resolved disputes related to

the use of the sea.

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

UNCLOS I and was ratified by 52 member states.

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

maintaining of grinder cords or pipes conduit, regimen governing travel, scientific

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

Exclusive Economic Zones. The 37 sections of this treaty were;

a) Section 1: High seas definition and description

b) Section 2: Pact principles’ statement.

c) Section 3: Accessibility of sea by landlocked countries.

d) Section 4-7: Flag country concept.

e) Section 8: War vessels.

f) Section 9: Government ships.

g) Section 10-12: Security and rescue.

h) Section 13: Prohibiting slaves’ transportation at sea.

i) Section 14-21: Pirating.

j) Section 22: War vessels boarding business vessels.

k) Section 23: Hot pursuit, following vessels across borders for law purposes.

l) Section 24-25: Contamination and pollution.

m) Section 26-29: Laying pipelines and cables for submarines.

n) Section 30-37: Lawful framework, agreement, and accessing.

Sea Law International Tribunal (ITLOS)

This is an intergovernmental organization which was formed in 1982 by United Nations

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

disputes over Demarcation of Oceanic Boundary between the two states.

ISA (Authority on International Seabed)

This is an intergovernmental organization that is based in Kingston, Jamaica. It was formed by

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-

located minerals’ producers that occur in the seafloor.

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

implementation and enhancing of the Law of the Sea.


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Bibliography

Ivy, Ashley. 2002. International Law and Concers of the Caspian Sea Region. December 6.

Accessed April 11, 2017. http://web.stanford.edu/class/e297a/International%20Law

%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

April 11, 2017. http://blogs.cfr.org/patrick/2012/09/05/the-south-china-sea-and-the-law-

of-the-sea/.

Shaw, Malcolm N. 2008. INTERNATIONAL LAW. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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