Law of the Sea

By Barbara Bean.

The Division serves as the secretariat of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The site provides access to the Convention and related agreements, General Assembly reports and other documents, information about dispute settlement and links to ocean-related materials. In this Division are two bodies established by the Convention:

An autonomous international organisation that administers mineral resources in the Area.

(IMO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for improving maritime safety and preventing pollution from ships. It serves as the repository for treaties related to maritime safety, marine pollution, liability and compensation and other conventions dealing with shipping. Summaries of and ratification information about IMO conventions can be found at the IMO website.

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO provides member states of the United Nations with a mechanism for global cooperation in the study of the ocean, through the sharing of knowledge, information and technology and through the coordination of national programs. The site contains links to IOC activities in the areas of marine environmental protection; fisheries and ecosystems; climate change; ocean observing and monitoring; coastal area management; data and information management and disaster mitigation.