Law of the Sea - Un convention on the law of the sea

The final text of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was approved by the conference at UN headquarters on 30 April 1982, by a vote of 130 in favor, with 4 against (Israel, Turkey, US, and Venezuela) and 17 abstentions. Following the signing of the Final Act of the conference in Jamaica on 10 December 1982, the UNCLOS entered into force on 16 November 1994. As of October 2002, 157 nations were keeping parties while 19 other states had signed the treaty and were completing the ratification process.

The UNCLOS created three international institutions dealing with specific areas of the Law of the Sea: the International Seabed Authority (ISBA), the International Tribunal for Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).