UNCLOS: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the overarching international legal framework regulating the use of the global ocean. UNCLOS was agreed in 1982 and came into force in 1994. It is a global agreement with over 160 Parties. It provides the frame for defining limits of national jurisdiction, for developing and implementing regulation of human activities at sea as well as for defining rights and freedoms at sea. Its provisions address a wide range of issues, including environmental protection, and provide a basis for further international agreements to build on with more detailed rules and requirements. Provisions in UNCLOS directly underpin the establishment of management bodies such as the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) (the latter indirectly, via the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement or UNFSA, which builds on UNCLOS). UNCLOS provides an overarching framework for the complementary and coordinated operation of other management bodies, accommodating the mandates of pre-existing ones (such as the International Maritime Organisation or IMO). UNCLOS further established the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which has jurisdiction over any disputes concerning the interpretation or application of UNCLOS - this includes disputes relating to the delimitation of national limits of jurisdiction, i.e. the boundaries of ABNJ. The body overseeing the implementation of UNCLOS is UNCLOS-DOALOS (the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs), based at UN Headquarters in New York City, USA.