UNCLOS

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in 1982 and entered into force in 1994, the comprehensive international treaty that establishes the legal framework for all uses of the world's oceans and seas, including navigation rights, territorial waters, exclusive economic zones, the continental shelf, deep-seabed mining, marine environmental protection, and the settlement of disputes; UNCLOS is often described as the constitution of the oceans and is one of the most ambitious exercises in international lawmaking, reflecting decades of negotiation among coastal states, landlocked states, and major maritime powers with often conflicting interests; the Convention established the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the International Seabed Authority to govern its provisions, and has been ratified by over 165 states, though the United States — whose navy depends on the freedom of navigation rights the Convention protects — has not ratified it due to domestic political opposition to its deep-seabed mining provisions