Straits are peripheral formations in the study of geography, but have long been a source of controversy in international relations. They connect separate seas and divide the territory of states. This geographical fact invites legal disputes over international boundary drawing, request forpassage by foreign ships, assertion of territorial control over the waters forming straits, and the basis for a regime generally accepted as law in our times. This is a thorough and well-documented book which combines elements of history, geography, international shipping, and the law of the sea. Itasks the central question: what exactly is the current law governing this area, and also goes on to consider the concept of international straits, the distinction between existing treaty-based regimes and the general regime, and the special characteristics of straits that separate them from similararms of the sea in terms of law. In answering these questions, the author takes us back to the first regime for international straits in 1949, through to the practices of the present day. This will be an invaluable text for all international lawyers, particularly those specializing in the law ofsea.

The four 1958 Geneva Conventions on the Law of the Sea, which codi?ed and progressively developed this sector of our legislation, were rather ephemeral despite the fact that they were constituent Conventions. In fact, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) again undertook the same task with the same spirit 20 years later after a long drawn out global negotiation process in which all the marine areas and problems pending were analysed and discussed by the countries attending, and an apparently strengthened majority was attained, including the essential agreement between the principal naval powers and the third world countries, symbolised most grossly in the recognition of exclusive economic areas which were 200 miles wide in exchange for a signi?cant alteration to the legal rules applicable to the international straits. From 1973 to 1982, the negotiations showed that there were a number of particular factors affecting the seas: “strait” countries, user countries, long range ?shing countries, embedded countries, archipelagic countries, broad platform countries, etc. In 1982 when the UNCLOS was adopted, it seemed to be a text with justi?ed pretensions to be in force for a long period of time as the nine years of negotiations required for its adoption had taken into account the main problems pending agreement although not absolutely all.

After an introductory chapter concerning the definition of Straits used for international navigation', the author examines in detail the evolution of the question in the years prior to the convening of UNCLOS-III, during the preparatory works of the Sea-Bed Committee and throughout the Conference. The second part of the book studies the legal norms set up by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning the regime of transit passage for maritime and air navigation applicable in most of the straits used for international navigation and the regime of innocent passage residually applied in the other straits. In the final chapter, the author makes a critical appraisal of the new regimes of navigation and overflight in straits, exposes the implications of such regimes in Spain, analyzes the applicability of the Convention's regulations before their coming into force, and examines the practice followed in the last few years by the most important States which favoured or opposed the regime of transit passage. From his position as Deputy-Head of the Spanish Delegation to the Law of the Sea Conference, Ambassador de Yturriaga participated from the very beginning in the work of UNCLOS-III and was an active protagonist in the debates of the straits' question. The book offers a first hand testimony of the straits' negotiation, which will be extremely useful for scholars and students of the Law of the Sea.

The importance of straits, particularly those used in international navigation, has been long recognized in international law. One of the important debates during the Third United Nations Law of the Sea Conference concerned the regime of passage through straits used in international navigation. The result was the creation of a multi-tiered legal framework of passage that included the entirely a new “transit passage” regime. Although over thirty years have passed since the adoption of the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, the vital role played by straits in the global communications network continues to be surrounded by conflicts between the interests of coastal states and shipping. Challenges still exist to achieving the simultaneous global goals of secure passage of vessels and protection of the marine environment. In Navigating Straits: Challenges for International Law, internationally recognized international law scholars provide in-depth analysis of the legal challenges in straits concerning security, piracy, safety and environmental protection. All readers interested in international and law of the sea will find this seminal volume of interest.

After an introductory chapter concerning the definition of `Straits used for international navigation', the author examines in detail the evolution of the question in the years prior to the convening of UNCLOS-III, during the preparatory works of the Sea-Bed Committee and throughout the Conference. The second part of the book studies the legal norms set up by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning the regime of transit passage for maritime and air navigation applicable in most of the straits used for international navigation and the regime of innocent passage residually applied in the other straits. In the final chapter, the author makes a critical appraisal of the new regimes of navigation and overflight in straits, exposes the implications of such regimes in Spain, analyzes the applicability of the Convention's regulations before their coming into force, and examines the practice followed in the last few years by the most important States which favoured or opposed the regime of transit passage. From his position as Deputy-Head of the Spanish Delegation to the Law of the Sea Conference, Ambassador de Yturriaga participated from the very beginning in the work of UNCLOS-III and was an active protagonist in the debates of the straits' question. The book offers a first hand testimony of the straits' negotiation, which will be extremely useful for scholars and students of the Law of the Sea.

Now in a third, revised edition, Excessive Maritime Claims by J. Ashley Roach and Robert W. Smith is designed for law of the sea and maritime law specialists. The book draws on published governmental material in the public domain, specifically the U.S., and addresses recent progress in maritime security, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by sea, piracy, and protection of underwater cultural heritage. As a result of significant developments in the law of the sea, primarily with reference to the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, Excessive Maritime Claims provides up to date coverage of current affairs as well as introduce new topics such as: submarine cables, polar areas, environmental protection, sovereign immunity and sunken ships, and maritime law enforcement.