The book, The Law of the Sea, with an Introduction by Professor U.N. Gupta, is designed to meet the needs and requirements of scholars of International Law and International Relations; professionals engaged in merchant shipping or connected with naval forces and the policy makers of different States who want to know about national interests in the seas, among others. Necessarily, the book presents in depth the various forms and aspects of human interests involved when the States do or do not have a sea coast. This study encompasses a period of about six centuries and is dotted with conflict of claims made by kings and states from time to time, various mutual understandings made, treaties or conventions signed by them, or customary international law relating to the sea as it gradually developed by consensus or by sufferance. The sea has provided an easy method of navigation for trade or empire building purposes. The various parts of the sea, like bays, gulfs or territorial sea got defined in the process. This part of the law of sea which is history-based and mainly customary has been included in the Introduction part of the book. With the technological advancements made for winning the Second World War, the victorious powers saw the vast economic potential for exploitation presented to them by the widespread ocean wealth. This capability and future prospects gave Copernican turn to customary law of the sea as it was till the end of Second World War. The new competitive wave set in motion by the two unilateral Proclamations by the USA in 1945 resulted in the overhauling of the law of sea by the four 1958 Geneva Conventions on the Law of Sea. The Introduction and the Appendices to the book give the rationale, substance and the texts of these developments. These also lead to various international understands, conventions and treaties made for peaceful uses of the seas by the States. The important use of the seas for extraction of sea wealth gave rise to further demands on the law of sea in 1960s and 1970s leading to the III United Nations Conferences on the Law of Sea. The culminated comprehensive 1981 UN Convention on the Law of Sea after long drawn consensus procedures by all the States of the world, coastal or non-coastal, is in various ways studied in the book and the text of 1981 Convention on the Law of Sea has been included in its Appendices.

Table of Contents:
ANNEXURES ANNEX - I Highly Migratory Species ANNEX - II Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf ANNEX - III Basic Conditions of Prospecting ANNEX - IV Statute of the Enterprise ANNEX - V Conciliation ANNEX - VI Statute of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ANNEX - VII Arbitration ANNEX - VIII Special Arbitration ANNEX - IX Participation by International Organizations AGREEMENT Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, of 28 July 1994 APPENDICES 1. Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armament, November 12, 1921—February 6, 1922 2. Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea (Adopted on 12 August 1949) 3. Convention on the High Seas, 1958 4. Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, 1958 5. Convention on the Continental Shelf, 1958 6. Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resource of the High Seas, 1958 7. Convention for the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, 1964 8. Seabed Treaty 1971 9. Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources in the Baltic Sea and the Belts, 1973 10. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, 1988 11. India and 1982 Convention Constitution of India, 1950: Article 253 Constitution of India, 1950: Article 297 The Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 A REVIEW United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea-20th Anniversary (1982-2002) Index