The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982. It lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world's oceans and seas establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources. It embodies in one instrument traditional rules for the uses of the oceans and at the same time introduces new legal concepts and regimes and addresses new concerns. The Convention also provides the framework for further development of specific areas of the law of the sea.
Bodies established by the Convention:
The traditional method for the negotiation of treaties has been through the holding of a diplomatic conference of plenipotentiaries specifically convened for that purpose.
This websites below provide access to the official records of the series of diplomatic conferences, convoked by the United Nations in relation to the law of the sea. The user is provided access by individual document, and the entire collection of proceedings is searchable in full-text format.