UNCLOS III

THE CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA

UNCLOS III Author: Denis C.A. de Souza

Table of Content

Prelude                                                                         

Chapter One: Bases for the Convention                       

Chapter Two: The Convention document                      

Chapter Three: History of Claims                                  

Chapter Four : Conflicts of Interests                            

Chapter Five: The Players                                             

Chapter Six: A Possible Scenario                                  

Chapter Seven: A New Regional Order                         

Epilogue                                                                        

Conclusion                                                                    

About the Author’s Section                                                                   

Publisher/Author’s Contacts

Prelude During the fag end of the Vietnam War in 1973, the united south east republic of North and South Vietnam, on the western side of the South China Seas, decided to wet lease sections of its side of the Tonkin Gulf to foreign oil companies to explore for hydrocarbon, but the move was fritted with uncertainties, dangers, and conflicts with its giant neighbour China, because the said Gulf wasn’t properly demarked because of overlapping areas, within territory sea borders of 12 nautical miles, and also within the economic zones beyond.

         China took objections to this unilateral move, and started to harass the oil riggers from India’s Oil & National Gas Commission in the said Gulf . Soon the Indians complained to the Vietnamese’s government, and the resulting news hit regional Asian newspapers, like the New Strait Times, which was, in turn, was read by your author, one day at the Raffles’ cafe in downtown Singapore. But what were the Indians doing in the Tonkin Gulf so far from home? Both nations send frigates to the troubled area.

         The Gulf of Tonkin is a body of water located off the coast of northern Vietnam and southern China. It is a northern arm of the South China Sea, a highly disputed sub region. The Tonkin Gulf is defined in the west by the northern coastline of Vietnam, in the north by China's Guangxi province, and to the east by China's Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island. It has been a hot bed of contention between the two neighbours, China and Vietnam. One country was a regional giant, the other, a small nation. Both nations were former communist friends in Asia and neighbours.

China has nine maritime neighbours in the South China Seas, including Taiwan, but no settled maritime boundaries, due in part to China’s unwillingness to specify its maritime claims. Only one partial exception to this imprecision exists: a boundary agreement with Vietnam to delimit the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin, and a fishery agreement establishing a joint fishing regime in that area, both reached in 2000.

While on the other side of the globe, the World Court solved the problem of The Gulf of Fonseca dispute. Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador have a coastline along the Gulf of Fonseca, a closed sea under international law, and have been involved in a lengthy dispute over the rights to the gulf; and the islands located there. Each enjoys a 3-nautical mile littoral zone of sovereignty along its shores and islands in the gulf.

The Gulf of Fonseca covers an area of about 3,200 km2, with a coastline that extends for 261 km, of which 185 kms are in Honduras, 40 km in Nicaragua, and 29 km in El Salvador.

Back in the South China area on the east side, The Philippines won the case of Scarborough Shoal Dispute, but the isles are outside of the country’s territorial waters. Until recent there was no people residing there. The shoal located between the Macclesfield Bank, and Luzon island in South China Sea.

Meanwhile, the US Navy and Air Force planes frequently test the navigational rights over artificially created islands in the Parcels, and also over Scarborough Shoal. All disputes are related to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, an incomplete piece of agreement between participating nations of the United Nations. But, Asia is on the other side of the world, far from the headquarters of the global peace keeping body in New York City.

Maritime subjects previously covered by other books, most of which will not be covered, except some critical ones like the problems created by the international treaty.

Convention, besides giving other related information, about the matter in hand. The two heavy weight nations in the conflict are China and USA.

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=, 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. 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. It seems more like an informal agreement.

While the Secretary General of the United Nations receives instruments of ratification and accession; and the UN provides support for meetings of states party to the Convention, the UN has no direct operational role in the implementation of the Convention. There is, however, a role played by organizations such as the International Maritime Organization, the International Whaling Commission, and the International Seabed Authority. The ISA was established by the UN Convention.

UNCLOS replaces the older 'freedom of the seas' concept, dating from the 17th century: national rights were limited to a specified belt of water extending from a nation's coastlines, usually 3 nautical miles, according to the 'cannon shot' rule developed by the Dutch jurist, Cornelius van Bynkershoek. All waters beyond national boundaries were considered international waters: free to all nations, but belonging to none of them (the mare liberum principle promulgated by Hugo Grotius).

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, Netherslands but no agreements resulted from it.) Using the customary international law principle of a nation's right to protect its natural resources, US 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 (22.22 km).

By 1967, only 25 nations still used the old 3-mile limit, while 66 nations had set a 12-nautical-mile (22.22 km) territorial limit, and eight had set a 200-nautical-mile (370 km) limit. As of 28 May 2008, only two countries still use the 3-mile limit: Jordan and Palau. That limit is also used in certain Australian islands, an area of Belize, some Japanese straits, certain areas of Papua New Guinea, and a few British Overseas Territories, such as Anguilla. Maritime global problems galore.The Convention is, at best, an formal agreement or even a treaty, but not a proper legal document in sense, spirit and international law.AFaulted legal document in international law based on naturally changinig phenomenon.