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Small Island States And The Los Convention 30 Years On: Have The Benefits Been Realised?, Ruth Davis, Quentin Hanich

Quentin Hanich

Although the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) is of great importance to a majority of countries, coastal states, naval powers and distant water fishing nations alike, there is a group of countries for whom the sea is such an integral part of their existence that the LOSC, as the “Constitution for the Oceans,” must be regarded as being of fundamental significance. The populations of these countries, comprised of one or more relatively small islands, find their way of life, indeed their very existence, dominated by the sea. The UN Secretary-General noted in 2011 that …