United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter: UNCLOS) was adopted by the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and was opened for signature in the city of Montego Bay in Jamaica, on December 10th 1982.
UNCLOS entered into force on November 16th 1994. The Republic of Croatia made the notification on succession to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on April 5th 1995.
UNCLOS represents the completion of the development of the International Law of the Sea which has began by forming the customary international law rules along with the provisions of the four 1958 Geneva conventions.
It introduced the legal regime of the exclusive economic zone and established the maximum breadth of the territorial sea. Likewise, it constituted three new bodies: the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea with its seat in Hamburg, the International Seabed Authority and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
