Final Act  (see pages [158]-[191])

Provides a detailed introduction to the negotiations, a history of sessions from 1973-1982, documentation citations and, on the last page, a Law of the Sea Chronology   

Text of the Convention (htm)

1833 UNTS 396 (pdf - multiple languages)

UN Ambassador Arvid Pardo (Malta): 1 November 1967 speech to the UN General Assembly

Pardo ended with a call for "an effective international regime over the seabed and the ocean floor beyond a learly defined national jurisdiction". "It is the only alternative by which we can hope to avoid the escalating tension that will be inevitable if the present situation is allowed to continue", he said.

After Ambassador Pardo's death in 1999, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote to his family and said: Ambassador Pardo was rightly known as the Father of the Law of the Sea Conference. He did more than anyone of his generation to enlighten the world about what he called the common heritage of mankind. Ambassador Pardo opposed the 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone, which left the most valuable fish and mineral resources to the coastal states. As the Law of the Sea Conference drew to a close in 1982, Pardo observed: "All that´s left of the common heritage of mankind´ is a few fish and a little seaweed." *

UN Photo Portrait of Mr. Arvid Pardo, new Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations, who today presented his credentials to Secretary-General U Thant,13 January 1965,United Nations, New York, Photo # 173712

Status database of Law of the Sea conventions (status tables from Chapter 21: Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General)