It is a truism that the increasingly rapid movement in technology is forcing change and shift in the norms of international law. The 149 states of the Law of the Sea Conferences of the United Nations have been attempting to establish and develop adequate legal norms that will take into account the need for the orderly growth and use of the changing technological capabilities and the resulting economic development that cannot and should not be hindered by in adequate law. When such norms are identified and agreed by a substantial majority of states, they are usually set out and placed into multilateral treaties. The rules governing the resource and non-resource allocation of the oceans and the uses ofthe oceans have posed major difficulties for the development of international law for many years. The Geneva Conference of 1958 building upon the groundwork of the International Law Commission of the United Nations shaped a rough structure for a 20th Century Law of the Seas and for mulated the effort in four major international conventions. But a majority of the states failed to ratify or accede to the conventions. Even had they become effec tive as the expression of the Law of the Seas in the second half of the 20th Cen tury, there was one glaring area of omission: a conventional law for the waters of mid-ocean archipelagos and archipelagic states.

This is the first comprehensive study on archipelagic regimes published since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982. The book traces the historical evolution of the archipelagic concept in international law and examines the definition of archipelagos and archipelagic states. The nature, status and regime of the waters of different types of archipelagos is examined and analysed from the perspective of archipelagic states and is based on the requirement of such states for territorial integrity and self-determination. The book introduces the concept of `Ocean States' and links Ocean States with the archipelagic concept. The archipelagic concept is viewed as a practical as well as a functional basis for the determination of the territorial limits of Ocean States.

The Spratly Islands and International Law examines legal solutions to problems arising from the absence of maritime boundaries in the Spratly Islands. The book draws on extensive sources of international law and formulates novel, concrete proposals for the way forward.

Dependent Archipelagos in the Law of the Sea examines the archipelagic concept in international law of the sea with respect to dependent archipelagos, both coastal and outlying. The monograph offers a thorough examination of the regime of straight baselines, and the implications arising from their application to archipelagos. It further analyses the practice of States with regard to the delimitation of the maritime zones of archipelagos, and assesses its value both as an element contributing to the interpretation of the Law of the Sea Convention - especially related to the application of article 7 - and as a factor leading to new developments in international law with an emphasis on customary law.

This book analyses he implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in the light of state practices of China and Japan. The special character of the book can be found in its structure of comparative analysis of the practices of China and Japan in each part. The focus is on historical aspects (Part I), implementation of the UNCLOS (Part II), navigation (Part III), mid-ocean archipelagos (Part IV), the marine environment (Part V), and dispute settlement (Part VI). By taking this approach, the book elucidates a variety of aspects of history, difficulties, problems, and controversies arising from the implementation of the UNCLOS by the two nations. Furthermore, contributors from China and Japan tend to show different perspectives on the UNCLOS, which, by clarifying the need for further debate, are expected to contribute to the continuing cooperation between the academics of the two states.

Co-publication with Banyan Publications, New Delhi. No sales rights in India.