Law of the Sea: UNCLOS as a Living Treaty

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) now has nearly 170 States parties and is still attracting new ones. Often described as the "Constitution of the Sea," it sets the legal framework for all matters concerning the world's oceans. This book provides original thinking on a broad range of issues relating to maritime delimitation, including: exploiting the outer continental shelf; emerging international energy issues at sea; the relationship between climate change and law of the sea; protecting human security and the marine environment; China's approach to UNCLOS; and the settlement of disputes for States and the European Union. The book analyzes the fundamental nature of UNCLOS and concludes that it may now be characterized as a "living treaty" due to its capacity to adapt to new realities. It goes on to assess just how alive UNCLOS is, in the sense of its quality of life or vitality, and how well-equipped it is to meet the challenges of the future. The contributors are leading specialists in the law of the sea. They include scholars of international law and geology, legal practitioners, government practitioners, and a former ITLOS judge. This book will be an important asset for all readers interested in contemporary developments in the law of the sea. *** (from the Foreword) "The papers in this volume [are] prepared by a very distinguished group of the most expert, and most perceptive, commentators on the contemporary law of the sea ...The insight that each of them brings to the peculiar strengths and weaknesses of UNCLOS as an expression of, and vehicle for, international co-operation and co-ordination makes this a volume of exceptional interest and importance." --Professor Vaughan Lowe QC [Subject: Maritime Law, Law of the Sea]