The governance models for oceans and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Abstract

The preamble to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention), signed 10 December 1982, aims at the creation of a 'legal order for the seas and oceans which will facilitate international communication, and will promote the peaceful uses of the seas and oceans, the equitable and efficient utilizations of their resources, the conservation of their resources, and the study, protection and preservation of the marine environment'. The legal order designed to regulate the use of the oceans is founded on the basic assumption that activities in the oceans do not require the appropriation of maritime areas by states, in particular, by coastal states. Accordingly, with the exception of internal waters, the recognition of 'sovereignty', 'sovereignty rights', and 'jurisdiction' over maritime spaces of coastal states does not imply the granting of exclusive powers over those spaces. Indeed, as opposed to an idea of exclusivity over a territory, the exercise of power by the coastal states over maritime spaces should take account of the uses of the oceans that are recognised simultaneously for all other states.