Convention on the Law of the Sea.

1. CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA

2. LAW OF THE SEA
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the most comprehensive attempt at
creating a unified regime for governance of the rights of nations with respect to the world's
oceans. The treaty addresses a number of topics including navigational rights, economic rights,
and pollution of the seas, conservation of marine life, scientific exploration, piracy, and more.

3. On 29 April 1958, the Geneva Convention of the United Nations Conference
on the Law of the Sea opened for signature four conventions and an
optional protocol:
1.the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone (CTS)
2.the Convention on the High Seas (CHS)
3.the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of
the High Seas (CFCLR)
4.the Convention on the Continental Shelf (CCS); and
5.the Optional Protocol of Signature concerning the Compulsory
Settlement of Disputes (OPSD)

4. The Law of the Sea Convention defines the rights and
responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the
world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the
environment, and the management of marine natural
resources. The Convention, concluded in 1982, replaced
four 1958 treaties

5. Pollution of the Marine Environment
Marine pollution refers to introduction by man, directly or
indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment,
including estuaries (an area where a river flows into the sea),
which results or is likely to result in such damaging effects as
harm to living resources and marine life, hazards to human
health, difficulties to marine activities, including fishing and
other legitimate uses of the sea, impairment of quality for use of
sea water and reduction of its amenities (good features).

6. Marine pollution includes a range of threats from land and shore based
sources such as:
 Oil spills and deliberate discharges
 Dumping of garbage
 Discharge of harmful chemicals and dangerous substances
 Discharge of raw or improperly treated sewage
 Dumping of cargo and residues that are harmful to marine environment
 Transportation and release of invasive species
 Emission of SOX & NOX

7. TERRITORIAL SEA AND THE CONTIGUOUS ZONE
The legal status of territorial sea and its breadth
Territorial sea or ‘territorial waters’ is a belt of coastal waters extending at
most 12 nautical miles (22.2 KM) from the baseline (low water mark) of a
coastal state.
• (Reference - UNCLOS Article 3 – Breadth of the territorial sea)
The territorial sea is regarded as the sovereign territory of the state
although foreign ships are allowed innocent passage through it. This
sovereignty also extends to air space over the seabed below. Adjustments
of these boundaries are called in international law maritime delimitation.