The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) entered into force in 1994 and has since been ratified by about 160 states, including all the Member States of the EU and the EU itself. The Convention defines the rights and duties of national states with regard to the use of the seas. UNCLOS consolidates customary international law and various Conventions previously adopted by the international community. This Treaty, the most comprehensive ever concluded, is often referred to as 'the constitution for the seas'. This Commentary focuses particularly on the interaction between UNCLOS and the European legal order, for example in the field of the prevention or the reduction of environmental pollution and the fair distribution of natural resources.

PART I INTRODUCTION
PART II TERRITORIAL SEA AND CONTIGUOUS ZONE
PART III STRAITS USED FOR INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION
PART IV ARCHIPELAGIC STATES
PART V EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE
PART VI CONTINENTAL SHELF
PART VII HIGH SEAS
PART VIII REGIME OF ISLANDS
PART IX ENCLOSED OR SEMI-ENCLOSED SEAS
PART X RIGHT OF ACCESS OF LAND-LOCKED STATES TO AND FROM THE SEA AND FREEDOM OF TRANSIT
PART XI THE AREA
PART XII PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT
PART XIII MARINE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
PART XIV DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFER OF MARINE TECHNOLOGY
PART XV SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES
PART XVI GENERAL PROVISIONS
PART XVII FINAL PROVISIONS

ANNEX I HIGHLY MIGRATORY SPECIES
ANNEX II COMMISSION ON THE LIMITS OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF
ANNEX III BASIC CONDITIONS OF PROSPECTING, EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION
ANNEX IV STATUTE OF THE ENTERPRISE
ANNEX V CONCILIATION
ANNEX VI STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE LAW OF THE SEA
ANNEX VII ARBITRATION
ANNEX VIII SPECIAL ARBITRATION
ANNEX IX PARTICIPATION BY INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

“United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: A Commentary is a reference work for law practitioners, scholars, theorists, that will shed an inspiring light on future legal discussion and instruments still to come. I fully recommend it and congratulate its editor and the publishing houses for embarking in this important and necessary project.” –  Elena Conde Pérez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, The Spanish Yearbook of International Law