Building a New Legal Order for the Oceans

Tommy Koh

The most important of Tommy Koh’s writings on the Law of the Sea are brought together in Building a New Legal Order for the Oceans. As President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, Koh shares his perspective on the history of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the concepts, tensions and intentions that underlie many of the new legal concepts, and the unique negotiating process of the UNCLOS.

The UNCLOS has been called a constitution for the oceans and is critically important today in a world rocked by climate change and biodiversity loss, and where deep seabed resources are potentially of vital strategic importance. It is absolutely crucial to find new ways to manage the common heritage of mankind, while navigating the priorities and expectations of those who depend on the oceans. Equally, peace at sea is made possible by the UNCLOS. Koh discusses current threats to maritime security. He explains the intricacies of the disputes in the South China Sea and the success of maritime boundary conciliation between Australia and Timor-Leste.

What can be learned from the success of UNCLOS? How can we build on that success, and manage the new tensions that arise in the Law of the Sea?

"This book will help readers understand why the rules-based legal order for the oceans that Tommy Koh helped establish is as important today as it was in 1982."
- Robert Beckman, Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore.

“From a world-renowned lawyer and diplomat who was present at its creation, Professor Koh takes us through a first-hand account of the delicate negotiation and subsequent implementation of the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, a seminal instrument to which some 167 States plus the European Union are currently parties.”
 – Rodman Bundy, Partner, Eversheds Harry Elias

Tommy Koh is Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rector of Tembusu College, Special Advisor to the Institute of Policy Studies, and Chairman of the Governing Board Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore. He served as President of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea from 1981 to 1982.

Publication year: 2019
376 pp / 229 x 152 mm / 7 images, 1 map
Paperback
ISBN: 978-981-3250-89-5