Page 127 - MDSL Final

LEGAL CONTEXT
The International Law of the Sea

‘Seas around Sri Lanka holds out great potential as
an island nation in the right centre of the Indian
Ocean. Hence, Law of the Sea plays an important
role in determining her maritime boundaries and
the jurisdictional zones.’

The law of the sea provides for the regulations, management and
governance of the ocean space that cover two-third of the Earth’s surface.
The International Law of the Sea is one of the most important areas of
contemporary international law addressing beyond the ‘Constitution of
the Oceans’, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(LOSC), but it an ever-growing body of additional treaties, frameworks
and State practices for the governance and management of the world
oceans. The Convention entered into force on 16th November 1994.
The Convention comprises 320 Articles and nine Annexes, governing all
aspects of ocean space. 61

The third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, pave the way
to finalise the LOSC and on 10th December 1982 and the international
law of the sea was transformed into a convention. The convention
provides certainty to the law and it took the law in new direction in
its provisions dealing with the deep seabed, Archipelagic States, marine
environmental protection, marine scientific research and compulsory
dispute settlement. The Convention also provided the framework for
further development of specific areas of law of the sea. 62

Introduction on Ocean Jurisdictions and the Generation of Maritime
Zones

Although invisible to the naked eye, governments have carved the world’s
oceans into many zones, based on both international and domestic laws.
These zones are often complex, with overlapping legal authorities and
responsibilities.

To Nurture a Stable Environment at Sea 109