United States and Law of the Sea

There is a movement underway to get the United States to ratify the Third United Nations Law of the Sea Convention 1982. Some in the United States call it the Law of the Sea "Treaty", so as to give it the acronym LOST. However, the United States is already adhering to the Convention's guidelines, despite keeping its option to take action only in its own interests. While the United States upholds rule of law as its guiding principle, it needs also to lead the way in providing law and order at sea. If it does choose to adopt the Convention though its own domestic laws, it should be able to keep to its principles of acting only in its national interests. International law is not law in the sense that municipal law is, and can be changed to suit changing needs of the state. James Kraska's book (click on the book fo info) is recommended reading but the links in this blog and many other articles will give interested readers a sense of the problem facing those who support the United States signing into law the Convention's guiding principles.Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta delivered the keynote address at the Law of the Sea Convention forum in Washington, D.C., May 9, 2012.

Panetta spoke at the Law of the Sea Convention forum. Ratifying the treaty, he said, would allow the United States to exert a leadership role in the development and interpretation of the rules that determine legal certainty on the world’s oceans.

To visit the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, click here....

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