About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

21 Ocean Dev. & Int'l L. 373 (1990)
U.S. Interests and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

handle is hein.journals/ocdev21 and id is 379 raw text is: Ocean Development and Inernational Law, Vol. 21, pp. 373-410      0090-8320190 $3.00 + .00
Printed in the UK. All rights reserved.                      Copyright @  1990 Taylor & Francis
U.S. Interests and the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea
PANEL ON THE LAW OF OCEAN USES
Abstract The Panel on the Law of Ocean Uses was founded in 1983 to monitor
developments in international ocean law. Its members are specialists in ocean law
and policy, resource economics, and the marine sciences. They review and evaluate
the law and practice of the United States and of other nations, as they affect the
evolution of international ocean law. This report contains an overview statement on
United States Policy Regarding the Law of the Sea and five more detailed papers
on navigation rights, fisheries law, the outer continental shelf, maritime shipping and
the protection of the marine environment, and marine scientific research issued by
the Panel.
United States Policy Regarding the Law of the Sea: An Overview
The new administration must urgently address United States international oceans policy.
As the foundation of that policy, the United States should take immediate measures to
achieve a stable and universally respected law of the sea.
A stable law of the sea is essential to vital U.S. interests. It would secure the right of
the United States to use the seas around the world for navigation and overflight for both
commercial and military purposes and for other defense needs; facilitate access for
scientific research and enhance respect for environmental standards in the 30 percent of
the world's oceans that are now within the national jurisdiction of other states; and
minimize and control disputes that directly or indirectly prejudice U.S. political, eco-
nomic, or defense interests.
The long-term stability which U.S. interests require can be afforded only by a
universally accepted Law of the Sea Convention. To that end, the United States should
begin to explore means to remove the obstacles to general ratification of the 1982 United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Pending general ratification, the United
States must assure that its behavior as a nation conforms strictly to the agreed
international norms of the law of the sea as set forth in the Convention regarding
established ocean uses and must act vigorously to assure that other countries do
likewise.
The Panel on the Law of Ocean Uses is an independent group of specialists in ocean law and
policy sponsored by the Council on Ocean Law. The members of the panel are Louis Henkin,
Chairman, Columbia University Law School; James M. Broadus, Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution; Jonathan I. Charney, Vanderbilt University Law School; Thomas A. Clingan, Jr., Uni-
versity of Miami Law School; John L. Hargrove, American Society of International Law; Jon L.
Jacobson, University of Oregon Law School; M. Casey Jarman, University of Hawaii Law
School; Terry L. Leitzell, Bogle & Gates; Edward Miles, University of Washington, Institute for
Marine Studies; J. Daniel Nyhart, M.I.T. Sloan School of Management; Bernard H. Oxman,
University of Miami Law School; Giulio Pontecorvo, Columbia University, Graduate School of
Business; Horace B. Robertson, Jr., Duke University Law School; Louis B. Sohn, University of
Georgia Law School; and James A. Storer, Brunswick, Maine.

373

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most