United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III)
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) Since the second UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS II) failed to resolve many outstanding concerns in 1960, discussions and negotiations continued until the third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) in 1982, which tried to address most issues of concern. Delegates submitted for ratification the Law of the Sea treaty, which formally outlines modern international policy regarding the oceans and marine resources. It was adopted by the Conference on 10 December 1982. The comprehensive document contains 320 articles and 9 annexes, and notably replaces the longstanding freedom of the sea principle, which held that nations could only hold territorial claim over coastline waters that were within the short distance of a cannon shot from shore. Instead, the treaty provides a graduated system of sovereignty in which countries can assert complete ownership of water within 12 nautical miles of their ...