List_of_parties_to_the_United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea

List of parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

List of parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Add article description

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which took place between 1973 and 1982. The Convention was opened for signature on 10 December 1982 and entered into force on 16 November 1994 upon deposition of the 60th instrument of ratification.[1]

  Parties
  Parties, dually represented by the European Union
  Non-parties that are signatories
  Non-parties that are not signatories

The Convention has been ratified by 169 parties, which includes 168 states (165 United Nations member states plus the UN Observer state Palestine and non-member states the Cook Islands and Niue) and the European Union.[2] An additional 14 UN member states have signed, but not ratified the Convention.

Subsequently, the "Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea" was signed in 1994, effectively amending the original Convention. The Agreement has been ratified by 152 parties (all of which are parties to the Convention), which includes 151 states (148 United Nations member states plus the UN Observer state Palestine, as well as the Cook Islands and Niue) and the European Union.[3] An additional three UN member states (Egypt, Sudan, USA) have signed, but not ratified the Agreement.

As per Article 4 of the Agreement, following adoption of the Agreement any state which ratifies the Convention also becomes a party to the Agreement. Additionally, only states which have previously established or establishes at the same time its consent to be bound by the Convention can become parties to the Agreement.

List of parties

States with a dagger (†) are landlocked states.

More information Convention, Agreement ...

Signatories

An additional 13 UN member states have signed the Convention but have not ratified it. One UN member state has signed the Agreement but has not ratified it. Therefore, none of these States are currently parties to either the Convention or the Agreement.

More information Signed Convention, Signed Agreement ...

Other states

There are 15 United Nations member and observer states which have neither signed nor acceded either the Convention or the Agreement:

United States position

Main article: United States and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Although the United States helped shape the Convention and its subsequent revisions,[5] and though it signed the 1994 Agreement, it has not signed the Convention as it objected - among other things - to Part XI of the Convention.[6][7]

In 1983 President Ronald Reagan, through Proclamation No. 5030, claimed a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. In December 1988 President Reagan, through Proclamation No. 5928, extended U.S. territorial waters from three nautical miles to twelve nautical miles for national security purposes. However a legal opinion from the Justice Department questioned the President's constitutional authority to extend sovereignty as Congress has the power to make laws concerning the territory belonging to the United States under the U.S. Constitution. In any event, Congress needs to make laws defining if the extended waters, including oil and mineral rights, are under state or federal control.[8][9]

On 16 July 2012, the U.S. Senate had 34 Republican Senators who indicated their intention to vote against ratification of the Convention if it came to a vote. Since at least two-thirds of the 100 member Senate (at least 67 Senators) are required to ratify a treaty, consideration of the Convention was deferred again.[10]

Some American commentators, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, have warned that ratification of the Convention might create a precedent with regard to resources of outer space.[11]

References

  1. [1]
    "The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (A historical perspective)". United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
  2. [2]
    "United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea". United Nations Treaty Series. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  3. [3]
    "Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea". United Nations Treaty Series. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  4. [4]
    "Chronological lists of ratifications of, accessions and successions to the Convention and the related Agreements". United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  5. [5]
    Documents on Global Issues, 1973-1976 Foreign Relations Series
  6. [6]
    Roger Rufe, President of the Ocean Conservancy. Statement before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, October 21, 2003
  7. [7]
    V Bantz, 'La Question De I'Adhesion Par Les Etats-Unis a La Convention Des Nations Unies Sur Le Droit De La Mer' (2003) 8 Annuaire Du Droit De La Mer 9–54
  8. [8]
    Andrew Rosenthal (29 December 1988). "Reagan Extends Territorial Waters to 12 Miles". New York Times. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  9. [9]
    Carol Elizabeth Remy (1992). "U.S. Territorial Sea Extension: Jurisdiction and International Environmental Protection". Fordham International Law Journal. 16 (4): 1208–1252. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  10. [10]
    Johnson, Keith. "GOP Scuttles Law-of-Sea Treaty". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  11. [11]
    Wong, Kristina. "Rumsfeld still opposes Law of Sea Treaty." The Washington Times, 14 June 2012.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article List_of_parties_to_the_United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.