The Law of the Sea is a vast and multi-faceted area of international law. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the Convention constitute essential instruments of the law of the sea governing a new maritime order for the international community. With its entry into force on November 16, 1994, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has virtually become the Magna Carta of the Oceans, or the Constitution for the Oceans. Testifying to its success is the number of Parties adhering to it, now totaling 132 States, including one international organization, the European Community. The world is entering the era of a New Maritime Order based on near-universal adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In the wake of the Convention's entry into force and its ratification by many States in Northeast Asia, a new maritime order is emerging in the region. The littoral States have enacted and promulgated new national legislation to incorporate the provisions of the UN Convention into their domestic legal order. The three littoral States China, Japan and South Korea concluded or initialed bilateral fisheries agreements based on the new concept of extended jurisdiction set forth by the UN Convention. The UN Convention will, however, present even more challenges than opportunities for the littoral States of Northeast Asia in their quest for a new maritime order. The maritime security situation in the region has been and will continue to be extremely volatile due to conflicting claims, disputed boundaries, unregulated pollution of the marine environment and widespread illegal activities at sea. The author has set the both pragmatic and ambitious aim of outlining the emerging maritime order in Northeast Asia. As a practitioner of the law of the sea who has participated in bilateral and multilateral negotiations on maritime affairs, the author sheds light on the new maritime order in the making at the international and regional levels. The author also delineates the main issues and disputes hindering the establishment of a new maritime order in the region and present policy options that could contribute to erecting a solid maritime order in the region by peaceful and cooperative means. Finally, the author presents a compilation of relevant legal texts, most of which were produced after the entry into force of the UN Convention, in the hope that this collection will prove useful for desk officers in charge of ocean affairs in promoting peaceful and constructive solutions for maritime issues in Northeast Asia. This work serves as a realistic analysis of the current law and State practice, as well as of the progressive development of the law of the sea and its codification in the wake of the entry into force of the 1982 UN Convention.

In Maritime Disputes in Northeast Asia: Regional Challenges and Cooperation, Suk Kyoon Kim provides an important multidisciplinary perspective on maritime disputes in one of the most dynamic areas of the world: Northeast Asia, a region of divergent political and economic systems where the legacy of a tumultuous past continues to overshadow current events. The text highlights maritime issues on the Korean Peninsula and extends an analytical eye to neighboring China, Japan and Russia. Kim explores in-depth the factors and issues at stake with complex maritime disputes, focusing on maritime boundary delimitation, territory, energy resources, fishery, marine pollution, and security and safety. This volume provides a timely international law perspective informed by an intricate historical, political, and socio-economic context, while offering a vision for future cooperation.

Asia-Pacific and the Implementation of the Law of the Sea reviews the legislative and policy approach taken by selected States to fulfil their obligations under the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC). Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam are examined in detail together with an analysis of the United States’ prospects of ratifying the LOSC and its current approach to implement the international law of the sea. The book reveals areas of regional variation and consensus in legislative approaches to implement LOSC obligations, contributing to the progressive development of the law of the sea.

The Law of the Sea is a vast and multi-faceted area of international law. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the Convention constitute essential instruments of the law of the sea governing a new maritime order for the international community. With its entry into force on November 16, 1994, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has virtually become the Magna Carta of the Oceans, or the Constitution for the Oceans. Testifying to its success is the number of Parties adhering to it, now totaling 132 States, including one international organization, the European Community. The world is entering the era of a New Maritime Order based on near-universal adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In the wake of the Convention's entry into force and its ratification by many States in Northeast Asia, a new maritime order is emerging in the region. The littoral States have enacted and promulgated new national legislation to incorporate the provisions of the UN Convention into their domestic legal order. The three littoral States China, Japan and South Korea concluded or initialed bilateral fisheries agreements based on the new concept of extended jurisdiction set forth by the UN Convention. The UN Convention will, however, present even more challenges than opportunities for the littoral States of Northeast Asia in their quest for a new maritime order. The maritime security situation in the region has been and will continue to be extremely volatile due to conflicting claims, disputed boundaries, unregulated pollution of the marine environment and widespread illegal activities at sea. The author has set the both pragmatic and ambitious aim of outlining the emerging maritime order in Northeast Asia. As a practitioner of the law of the sea who has participated in bilateral and multilateral negotiations on maritime affairs, the author sheds light on the new maritime order in the making at the international and regional levels. The author also delineates the main issues and disputes hindering the establishment of a new maritime order in the region and present policy options that could contribute to erecting a solid maritime order in the region by peaceful and cooperative means. Finally, the author presents a compilation of relevant legal texts, most of which were produced after the entry into force of the UN Convention, in the hope that this collection will prove useful for desk officers in charge of ocean affairs in promoting peaceful and constructive solutions for maritime issues in Northeast Asia. This work serves as a realistic analysis of the current law and State practice, as well as of the progressive development of the law of the sea and its codification in the wake of the entry into force of the 1982 UN Convention.

A surprising number of maritime boundaries remain unresolved, and a range of reasons can be cited to explain why the process of delimiting these boundaries has been so slow. This volume addresses and analyzes some of these reasons, focusing on some of the volatile disputes in Northeast Asia and in North America. Scholars from Asia, the United States, and Europe grapple with festering controversies and apply insights gained from resolved disputes to those that remain unresolved. Islands continue to haunt this process, and the way in which they should affect maritime boundaries remains in dispute. The United States has a number of disputed boundaries with its neighbors to the north and south, and these are examined. Antarctica is a concern of all nations, and the regimes governing the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica are analyzed. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea was created to allow countries to resolve their disputes peacefully, and two chapters look at how this new court is operating. The impact of sea-level rise on maritime boundaries is given special attention in the opening chapter. This volume presents a wonderful collection of provocative chapters written by the top scholars in the field of International Ocean Law. It should help scholars, students, and decision makers to understand the current state of this field and to move some of the difficult disputes toward resolution.

In the years since 1994, when the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) entered into force, the ocean law regime has been profoundly affected by an interplay of new forces in global ocean affairs. Numbered among them are innovations in technology and science, the emergence of intensified piracy and other challenges to maritime security, national, and regional programs. In Ocean Law and Policy: Twenty Years of Development under the UNCLOS Regime, experts from fourteen countries present nineteen papers that provide insightful analyses of these wide-ranging issues that form the emerging new context of UNCLOS as a keystone to a working regime system. Accessible as well as authoritative, this volume offers to general readers as well as academics, policy officials, and legal experts a set of important analyses and provocative insights, forming a major contribution to the literature of ocean studies.