The UN convention on the Law of the Sea: a chronology.

• Position: Law of the Sea

The First UN Conference on the Law of the Sea was held at Geneva in 1958 and resulted in the adoption of four conventions: on the high seas; on the territorial sea and the contiguous zone; on the continental shelf; and on fishing and conservation of the living resources of the high seas. Those conventions were based on drafts prepared by the International Law Commission.

The Second UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, also held at Geneva in 1960, made unsuccessful attempts to reach agreement on the breadth of the territorial sea and on fishing zones.

In response to growing concern over the possible militarization of the seabed and amid calls for the designation of the resources of the deep seabed as the common heritage of mankind, the General Assembly established in 1967 an ad hoc committee.

Having considered the ad hoc committee's initial report, the Assembly in 1968 established the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Seabed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction. The Committee began work in 1969 on a statement of legal principles to govern the uses of the seabed and its resources.

Unanimous adoption of 1970 Declaration

In 1970, the General Assembly in 1970 unanimously adopted the Committee's Declaration of Principles, which stated that "the seabed and ocean floor, and the subsoil thereof, beyond the limits of national jurisdiction ... as well as the resources of the area are the common heritage of mankind", to be reserved for peaceful purposes, not subject to national appropriation and not to be explored or exploited, except in accordance with an international regime to be established.

The Assembly, recognizing that the problems of ocean space were interrelated and needed to be considered as a whole, also decided to convene a new conference to prepare a single, comprehensive treaty.

This new treaty was to encompass all aspects of the establishment of a regime and machinery for the international seabed area, as well as such issues as the regimes of the high seas, the continental shelf and territorial sea (including the question of limits), fishing rights, preservation of the marine environment, scientific research, and access to the sea by land-locked States.

The Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea opened with a brief organizational session in 1973.

At its second session (Caracas, Venezuela, 1974) the Conference endorsed the Seabed Committee's recommendation that it work on a new law of the sea treaty as a "package deal", with no one...