SAINT JUDE CATHOLIC SCHOOL

327 YCAZA ST., SAN MIGUEL, MANILA, PHILIPPINES Tel. Nos.: 735-6386 /
735-6393 www.sjcs.edu.ph

High School Department - Basic Education

Pangalan _________________________ Petsa ______________________

Batayang Sipi Blg.1 – UNCLOS

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea
Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United
Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which took place between 1973 and 1982. 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. UNCLOS came into force in 1994,
a year after Guyana became the 60th nation to sign the treaty. As of January 2015, 166 countries and the
European Union have joined in the Convention.

The convention introduced a number of provisions. The most significant issues covered were setting limits,
navigation, archipelagic status and transit regimes, exclusive economic zones (EEZs), continental shelf
jurisdiction, deep seabed mining, the exploitation regime, protection of the marine environment, scientific
research, and settlement of disputes.

INTERNAL WATERS Covers all water and waterways on the landward side of the baseline. The coastal state
is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource. Foreign vessels have no right of passage within internal
waters.

TERRITORIAL WATERS Out to 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres; 14 miles) from the baseline, the coastal
state is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource. Vessels were given the right of innocent passage
through any territorial waters, with strategic straits allowing the passage of military craft as transit passage, in
that naval vessels are allowed to maintain postures that would be illegal in territorial waters. "Innocent passage"
is defined by the convention as passing through waters in an expeditious and continuous manner, which is not
"prejudicial to the peace, good order or the security" of the coastal state. Fishing, polluting, weapons practice,
and spying are not "innocent", and submarines and other underwater vehicles are required to navigate on the
surface and to show their flag. Nations can also temporarily suspend innocent passage in specific areas of their
territorial seas, if doing so is essential for the protection of its security.

ARCHIPELAGIC WATERS A baseline is drawn between the outermost points of the outermost islands,
subject to these points being sufficiently close to one another. All waters inside this baseline are designated
Archipelagic Waters. The state has full sovereignty over these waters (like internal waters), but foreign vessels
have right of innocent passage through archipelagic waters (like territorial waters).

CONTIGUOUS ZONE Beyond the 12-nautical-mile (22 km) limit, there is a further 12 nautical miles (22 km)
from the territorial sea baseline limit, the contiguous zone, in which a state can continue to enforce laws in four
specific areas: customs, taxation, immigration and pollution, if the infringement started within the state's
territory or territorial waters, or if this infringement is about to occur within the state's territory or territorial
waters. This makes the contiguous zone a hot pursuit area.

EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONES (EEZ) These extend from the edge of the territorial sea out to 200 nautical
miles (370 kilometres; 230 miles) from the baseline. Within this area, the coastal nation has sole exploitation
rights over all natural resources. In casual use, the term may include the territorial sea and even the continental
shelf. The EEZs were introduced to halt the increasingly heated clashes over fishing rights, although oil was
also becoming important. The success of an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 1947 was soon
repeated elsewhere in the world, and by 1970 it was technically feasible to operate in waters 4000 metres deep.
Foreign nations have the freedom of navigation and overflight, subject to the regulation of the coastal states.
Foreign states may also lay submarine pipes and cables.

CONTINENTAL SHELF The continental shelf is defined as the natural prolongation of the land territory to
the continental margin’s outer edge, or 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coastal state's baseline, whichever
is greater. A state's continental shelf may exceed 200 nautical miles (370 km) until the natural prolongation
ends. However, it may never exceed 350 nautical miles (650 kilometres; 400 miles) from the baseline; or it may
never exceed 100 nautical miles (190 kilometres; 120 miles) beyond the 2,500 meter isobath (the line
connecting the depth of 2,500 meters). Coastal states have the right to harvest mineral and non-living material
in the subsoil of its continental shelf, to the exclusion of others. Coastal states also have exclusive control over
living resources "attached" to the continental shelf, but not to creatures living in the water column beyond the
exclusive economic zone.

Aside from its provisions defining ocean boundaries, the convention establishes general obligations for
safeguarding the marine environment and protecting freedom of scientific research on the high seas, and also
creates an innovative legal regime for controlling mineral resource exploitation in deep seabed areas beyond
national jurisdiction, through an International Seabed Authority and the Common heritage of mankind principle.

Source: Google Search (UNCLOS)