The International Law of the Ocean

27 Fevereiro 2018, 10:00 • Shiv Kumar Singh

The Romans named the sea “Mare Nostrum” (Latin for “our sea”). Till then, the ocean was never seen as “territorial”. And a new Latin term “Mare Clausum” (‘closed sea’), came into use for the first time ever. In the middle ages; the Republic of Genoa and Republic of Venice claimed a “closed sea” policy that led to “Mare Clausum” being seen as an aggressive, self-proclaimed law.  Similarly, England and the Nordic Kingdoms used to charge ‘transit fees’, declare jurisdiction over fishing areas and prohibited entry of foreign ships in their respective arenas of influence. Portugal and Spain were most prominent in claiming exclusive rights over new lands discovered by them and the sea areas surrounding these. This monopoly by the Portuguese and the Spaniards was criticised by many European nations who were prohibited from trading in the affected seas. To make seas a peaceful territory: Some kind of a balance was needed to:(a) Ensure freedom of navigation. (b) Provide a stretch of water as a buffer zone for coastal states to secure their territorial integrity.
(c) Allow coastal states to tap marine resources in the immediate offshore zone.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or 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 place between 1973 and 1982. The Law of the Sea Convention defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.

In the early 20th century, some nations expressed their desire to extend national claims: to include mineral resources, to protect fish stocks, and to provide the means to enforce pollution controls.(The League of Nations called a 1930 conference at The Hague, but no agreements resulted.) Using the customary international law principle of a nation's right to protect its natural resources, President Harry S. Truman in 1945 extended United States control to all the natural resources of its continental shelf. Other nations were quick to follow suit. Between 1946 and 1950, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador extended their rights to a distance of 200 nautical miles (370 km) to cover their Humboldt Current fishing grounds. Other nations extended their territorial seas to 12 nautical miles (22 km).

The Convention, concluded in 1982, replaced four 1958 treaties. UNCLOS came into force in 1994, a year after Guyana became the 60th nation to ratify the treaty. As of June 2016, 167 countries and the European Union have joined in the Convention. It is uncertain as to what extent the Convention codifies customary international law. The issue of varying claims of territorial waters was raised in the UN in 1967 by Arvid Pardo of Malta, and in 1973 the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea was convened in New York. In an attempt to reduce the possibility of groups of nation-states dominating the negotiations, the conference used a consensus process rather than majority vote. With more than 160 nations participating, the conference lasted until 1982. The resulting convention came into force on 16 November 1994, one year after the 60th state, Guyana, ratified the treaty.