The International Law of the Sea & The Legal Order of the Oceans: Basic Documents on the Law of the Sea
RIS ID
57893
Abstract
[extract] The coming into force of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (LOSC) in 1994 fundamentally changed how we view the oceans and how we act in the maritime domain. As is well known, LOSC, amongst other things, provides a management framework for ocean usage, whether used as a means of transportation and/or movement, or for access to living and non-living resources. As such, while LOSC remains within the remit of the maritime lawyers, an understanding of the ‘law of the sea’ is now critical to those who use the sea and importantly, to those who write on oceanic and/or maritime issues. Unfortunately many non-lawyers who write on the legal aspects of the oceans from a multidisciplinary perspective, do not understand the law, either how it came about or what it means. This is where these two books are invaluable; one is a collection of relevant legal documents; the other is a description and analysis of the law of the sea; they are designed to be read together. These books will be reviewed in legal journals, where there will be a separate debate over how issues have been discussed; this review is written by a non-lawyer to outline the usefulness of these books in a multidisciplinary environment.
Publication Details
A. Forbes, 'The International Law of the Sea & The Legal Order of the Oceans: Basic Documents on the Law of the Sea' (2011) 3 (2) Australian Journal of Maritime and Ocean Affairs 67-70.