The Ratification by Greece of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

Extract

On 21 July 1995, Greece ratified the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter the 1982 Convention). The entry into force of a widely accepted and comprehensive law of the sea convention has been a consistent objective of successive Greek administrations since negotiations began over two decades ago. Greece was very active during the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III]), voting in favour of the Convention and its Final Act with the intention of ratifying it at a later date. This article discusses the political and substantive context of the Greek ratification of the 1982 Convention by considering its impact upon Greek law of the sea interests and assessing its implications for Greek-Turkish relations in the Aegean Sea.