Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
BOOK REVIEW - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA
Dr L. D. Guruswamy.
Introduction
The greatest diplomatic conference in modern history did not end on a note of absolute triumph. Fifteen years of protracted negotiation,1 first in the Sea-Bed Committees and later the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea2 culminated in the ceremonial signing of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on 10th December 1982.3 The Convention, which it had been hoped would be adopted by
1 The saga of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea has been ably chronicled by Stevenson, J. R. and Oxman, B. H., “The Preparations for the Law of the Sea Conference”, 68 AJIL 1 (1974); “The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea: The 1974 Caracas Session”; 69 AJIL (1975); “The 1975 Geneva Session “, 69 AJIL 763 (1975); and Oxman, “The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea”: “The 1976 New York Session”, 71 AJIL 247 (1977);—“The 1977 New York Session”, 72 AJIL 57 (1978);—“The Seventh Session (1978)”, 75 AJIL 1 (1979);—“The Eighth Session (1979)”, 74 AJIL 1 (1980);—“The Ninth Session (1980)”, 75 AJIL 211 (1981);—“The Tenth Session (1981)”, 76 AJIL 1 (1982).
A useful official narrative tracing the unfolding developments of UNCLOS forms the Introduction to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UN Doc.A/CONF.62/122 (7th October 1982) reprinted in 21 ILM 1261 (1982). The timely article by Lee, L. T., “The Law of the Sea Convention and Third States” 77 AJIL 541 (1983) addresses some of the issues raised in these pages but arrived after this paper had been completed.
2 The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction was established in 1967. See General Assembly Resolutions 2430 (XXII) of 18th December 1967 and 2467 A (XXIII) of 21st December 1968. That Committee was later enlarged by the General Assembly and requested to prepare for a Conference on the Law of the Sea. See General Assembly Resolution 2750 C (XXV) of 17th December 1970. Consequent upon the reports of this Committee the General Assembly convened the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. See General Assembly Resolution 3029 (XXVII) of 18th December 1972 and 3067 (XXVIII) of 16th November 1973. The first session was held in New York in 1973 and the final decision-making session (in two stages) was also held in New York in 1982. The concluding session for signing the Convention was held in Jamaica from 6th to 10th December 1982.
These sessions spawned an enormous number of documents, some of which were incorporated into an Official Record that followed each session as follows:
First session: 3rd to 15th December 1973; Second session: 20th June to 29th August 1974—Vols. I to III. Third session: 17th March to 9th May 1975—Vol. IV. Fourth session: 15th March to 7th May 1976—Vol. V. Fifth session: 2nd August to 17th September 1976—Vol. VI. Sixth session: 23rd May to 15th July 1977—Vols. VII & VIII. Seventh session: 28th March to 19th May and 21st August to 15th September 1978—Vols. IX & X. Eighth session: 19th March to 27th April and 19th July to 24th August 1979—Vols. XI & XII. Ninth session: 3rd March to 4th April and 28th July to 29th August 1980—Vols. XIII & XIV. Tenth session: 9th March to 24th April and 3rd to 28th August 1981—Vols. not published. Eleventh session: 8th March to 30th April and 22nd to 24th September 1982—A/CONF.62/SR 156 to 184. 6th to 10th December 1982—A/CONF.62/PV 175 to 193.
3 Reproduced in Simmons, ed., United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1983); and 21 ILM 1261 (1982).
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