Posted: May 17th, 2015

The President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea Ambassador Tommy T.B. Koh

The President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea Ambassador Tommy T.B. Koh

The President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea Ambassador Tommy T.B. Koh in his opening remarks at the final session at Montego Bay on 10 December 1982 addressed the question of “whether [the Conference] achieved [its] fundamental objective of producing a comprehensive constitution for the oceans which will stand the test of time.” [The Law of the sea: official text of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea with annexes and index: final act of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea: introductory material on the convention and the Conference (United Nations: 1983), at p. xxxiii; a copy of the speech is provided with the question].

Consider, today, whether the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, produced by the Third United Nations Conference, is “a comprehensive constitution for the oceans which [has stood] the test of time”, focussing only on one of the eight bullet points listed by His Excellency in the first two pages of the attached materials.

The following materials are provided with the question:

‘A Constitution for the Oceans’ Remarks by Tommy T.B. Koh, of Singapore President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, pages xxxiii – xxxvii, in The Law of the sea: official text of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea with annexes and index: final act of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea: introductory material on the convention and the Conference (United Nations: 1983).