The Legal Regime Governing the Seas and Oceans

Abstract

The legal nature governing the platform and sub-platform is one of the important challenges of governments and international institutions. In 1982, the General Assembly of the United Nations drafted a comprehensive convention in this regard, which is now in force in all the member countries of this organization. The bed and sub-bed of the seas and oceans include two areas of the continental shelf and beyond the continental shelf, the former under the jurisdiction of the coastal government and the latter subject to an international regime. The outer limit of the continental shelf in open waters continues up to 350 miles, and the exploration and exploitation of natural resources, including mineral resources, inanimate resources, and stationary and living organisms, is the monopoly of the coastal governments. The resources beyond the continental shelf are considered the common heritage of mankind, and any exploration activity and exploitation of its resources is done with the permission and supervision of an institution called "International Deep-Sea Authority", whose members are elected by the member states of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.