Foreword
It is an honour for me to write a foreword for this volume on Global Challenges and
the Law of the Sea based on the contributions to the VIIth Colloquium of the
International Association of the Law of the Sea (hereinafter “the AssIDMer”), held
in Lisbon, Portugal, on 20–21 September 2018. I had the privilege of participating in
this Colloquium of the AssIDMer, which was co-hosted by the University of Porto,
the University of Lisbon and UiT the Arctic University of Norway.
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter
“UNCLOS” or “the Convention”) is one of the most complex international treaties
that have ever been negotiated. While UNCLOS reaffirmed many provisions of
customary international law codified in the 1958 Geneva Conventions, its main
achievement was progressive development of international law. UNCLOS declares
the seabed, ocean floor and their mineral resources beyond limits of national
jurisdiction the common heritage of mankind and establishes the international
regime governing activities in that area, introduces concepts of exclusive economic
zone and archipelagic waters, clarifies the regime governing passage through straits
used for international navigation, defines the legal regime of the continental shelf
and establishes criteria to be used by coastal States in establishing the outer limits of
their continental shelf, contains extensive provisions concerning the protection and
preservation of the marine environment and provides for a mechanism, in the form of
compulsory procedures entailing binding decisions, that is supposed to ensure
compliance with the provisions of the Convention.
While UNCLOS represents the best effort on the part of international community
of States to address governance issues that required solution at the time of its
conclusion, the Convention did not resolve all of them. Consequently, while
UNCLOS quite rightly is being called “Constitution for the oceans” and there is
no doubt that conclusion of the Convention constituted a remarkable achievement, it
should also be understood that its resulting oceans governance regime still has gaps
which need to be addressed. This was clearly demonstrated by the fact that relatively
shortly after the conclusion of UNCLOS, two implementing agreements had to be
negotiated to supplement its provisions, namely the 1994 Agreement Relating to the
v
It is an honour for me to write a foreword for this volume on Global Challenges and
the Law of the Sea based on the contributions to the VIIth Colloquium of the
International Association of the Law of the Sea (hereinafter “the AssIDMer”), held
in Lisbon, Portugal, on 20–21 September 2018. I had the privilege of participating in
this Colloquium of the AssIDMer, which was co-hosted by the University of Porto,
the University of Lisbon and UiT the Arctic University of Norway.
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter
“UNCLOS” or “the Convention”) is one of the most complex international treaties
that have ever been negotiated. While UNCLOS reaffirmed many provisions of
customary international law codified in the 1958 Geneva Conventions, its main
achievement was progressive development of international law. UNCLOS declares
the seabed, ocean floor and their mineral resources beyond limits of national
jurisdiction the common heritage of mankind and establishes the international
regime governing activities in that area, introduces concepts of exclusive economic
zone and archipelagic waters, clarifies the regime governing passage through straits
used for international navigation, defines the legal regime of the continental shelf
and establishes criteria to be used by coastal States in establishing the outer limits of
their continental shelf, contains extensive provisions concerning the protection and
preservation of the marine environment and provides for a mechanism, in the form of
compulsory procedures entailing binding decisions, that is supposed to ensure
compliance with the provisions of the Convention.
While UNCLOS represents the best effort on the part of international community
of States to address governance issues that required solution at the time of its
conclusion, the Convention did not resolve all of them. Consequently, while
UNCLOS quite rightly is being called “Constitution for the oceans” and there is
no doubt that conclusion of the Convention constituted a remarkable achievement, it
should also be understood that its resulting oceans governance regime still has gaps
which need to be addressed. This was clearly demonstrated by the fact that relatively
shortly after the conclusion of UNCLOS, two implementing agreements had to be
negotiated to supplement its provisions, namely the 1994 Agreement Relating to the
v