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.

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.

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.

Jurisdiction over Ships: Post-UNCLOS Developments in the Law of the Sea analyses international law developments in shipping since the adoption of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982. The Convention’s rules on the rights and obligations of flag states, coastal states and port states, have by and large been accepted and adhered to by states, but the legal regime for the oceans is neither complete nor static, nor was it intended to be so. New issues have surfaced while old issues have changed their character. Developments in law and practice have already resulted in some divergences between the jurisdictional scheme outlined in UNCLOS and how states in reality exercise their jurisdiction over ships. In this book, 18 leading academics in the field study a number of such developments in more detail, providing a practical guide to the state of the law at present while at the same time offering insights into how international law develops in this field.

The law of the sea provides for the regulation, management and governance of the ocean spaces that cover over two-thirds of the Earth's surface. This book provides a contemporary explanation of the foundational principles of the law of the sea, a critical overview of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and an analysis of subsequent developments including the many bilateral, regional and global agreements that supplement the Convention. The second edition of this acclaimed text takes as its focus the rules and institutions established by the Convention on the Law of the Sea and places the achievements of the Convention in both historical and contemporary context. All of the main areas of the law of the sea are addressed including the foundations and sources of the law, the nature and extent of the maritime zones, the delimitation of overlapping maritime boundaries, the place of archipelagic and other special states in the law of the sea, navigational rights and freedoms, military activities at sea, and marine resource and conservation issues such as fisheries, marine environmental protection and dispute settlement. As the Convention is now well over a quarter of a century old, the book takes stock of contemporary oceans issues that are not adequately addressed by the Convention. Overarching challenges facing the law of the sea are considered, including how new maritime security initiatives can be reconciled with traditional navigational rights and freedoms, and the need for stronger legal and policy responses to protect the global ocean environment from climate change and ocean acidification.

This series brings together the most significant published journal articles in international law as determined by the editors of each volume in the series. The proliferation of law, specialist journals, the increase in international materials and the use of the internet has meant that it is increasingly difficult for students and legal scholars to have access to all the relevant articles. Many valuable older articles are unable to be obtained readily. In addition each volume contains an informative introduction which provides an overview of the subject matter and justification of why the articles were collected. This series contains collections of articles in a manner that is of use for both teaching and research.