Law of the Sea

The full text of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (1982) (UNCLOS) is available on the United Nations website (open access).

The Convention also has its own website, which contains historical background information, implementing agreements, dispute settlement mechanisms and status of the Convention.

Travaux Préparatoires for the Law of the Sea 1958 (First Conference), 1960 (Second Conference) and 1973-1982 (Third Conference) are available on the UN Diplomatic Conferences website (open access). The Travaux Préparatoires are official documents recording the negotiations, drafting, and discussions during the process of creating a treaty. These documents may be consulted and taken into consideration when interpreting treaties.

This lists the major treaties - each treaty page provides the full text of the treaties, travaux and related documents, information about the procedural history and useful introductory summaries (open access).