List of parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 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 Convention was opened for signature on 10 December 1982 and entered into force on 16 November 1994 upon deposition of the 60th instrument of ratification.

The Convention has been ratified by 172 parties, which includes 171 states (168 United Nations member states plus the UN Observer state Palestine and non-member states the Cook Islands and Niue) and the European Union. An additional 12 UN member states have signed, but not ratified the Convention.

Subsequently, the "Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea" was signed in 1994, effectively amending the original Convention. The Agreement has been ratified by 154 parties (all of which are parties to the Convention), which includes 153 states (150 United Nations member states plus the UN Observer state Palestine, as well as the Cook Islands and Niue) and the European Union. An additional three UN member states (Egypt, Sudan, USA) have signed, but not ratified the Agreement.

As per Article 4 of the Agreement, following adoption of the Agreement any state which ratifies the Convention also becomes a party to the Agreement. Additionally, only states which have previously established or establishes at the same time its consent to be bound by the Convention can become parties to the Agreement.

List of parties

States with a dagger () are landlocked states.

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Signatories An additional 12 UN member states have signed the Convention but have not ratified it. One UN member state has signed the Agreement but has not ratified it. Therefore, none of these States are currently parties to either the Convention or the Agreement.

State SignedConventionSignedAgreement

Other states There are 13 United Nations member and observer states which have neither signed nor acceded either the Convention or the Agreement:

United States position

Although the United States helped shape the Convention and its subsequent revisions,Documents on Global Issues, 1973–1976 Foreign Relations Series and though it signed the 1994 Agreement, it has not signed the Convention as it objected – among other things – to Part XI of the Convention.Roger Rufe, President of the Ocean Conservancy. Statement before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, October 21, 2003V Bantz, 'La Question De I'Adhesion Par Les Etats-Unis a La Convention Des Nations Unies Sur Le Droit De La Mer' (2003) 8 Annuaire Du Droit De La Mer 9–54 However, it has stated from early on that it considers all of the convention except the parts about deep sea mining to be the same as customary international law.

In 1983 President Ronald Reagan, through Proclamation No. 5030, claimed a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. In December 1988 President Reagan, through Proclamation No. 5928, extended U.S. territorial waters from three nautical miles to twelve nautical miles for national security purposes. However a legal opinion from the Justice Department questioned the President's constitutional authority to extend sovereignty as Congress has the power to make laws concerning the territory belonging to the United States under the U.S. Constitution. In any event, Congress needs to make laws defining if the extended waters, including oil and mineral rights, are under state or federal control.

On 16 July 2012, the U.S. Senate had 34 Republican Senators who indicated their intention to vote against ratification of the Convention if it came to a vote. Since at least two-thirds of the 100 member Senate (at least 67 Senators) are required to ratify a treaty, consideration of the Convention was deferred again.

Some American commentators, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, have warned that ratification of the Convention might create a precedent with regard to resources of outer space.Wong, Kristina. "Rumsfeld still opposes Law of Sea Treaty." The Washington Times, 14 June 2012.

References