United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea, 1982 And The Sudanese Practice

Abstract

Codification of international law as whole, including the law of the sea, can be dated at the eighteenth century. Jeremy Bentham, at the last quarter of that century, proposed such a codification. He suggested that an international code should be codified and proposed plan for such codification based upon the existing international law. Since his time, numerous attempts have made by private individuals, learned societies and government for codification. 1 The first serious attempt to codify the principles of the international law of the sea was made at the Congress of Paris in 1858. The Congress agreed on a number of principles relating to maritime law in the time of war. 2 The Hague Peace Conference of 1899 showed that parts of the law of the nations might be codified. This conference succeeded in producing two important conventions. The results of the Second Hague Conference of 1907 are much more important from the point of view of law of sea as it produced thirteen conventions, codifying parts of law of sea. 3 The end of the First World War witnessed the establishment of the League of Nations, which endeavored to codify various matters of law of sea. Several conferences were convened under the auspice of the League of Nations. The work of codification undertaken by the League was greatly assisted by the Committee of experts.4