Abstract
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All States with marine and maritime interests need to ensure that their
domestic laws enable them to meet their obligations, and to take
advantage of the rights afforded to them, under the international law of
the sea. This body of international law is structured around one of the
most extensive and widely ratified international treaties: the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (‘LOSC’).1 This paper reviews
the general process by which obligations and rights in international
treaties become part of domestic law and then examines Australia’s
experience in incorporating into its domestic law three broad areas of
prescriptive and enforcement jurisdiction provided in the LOSC:
maritime zones, fisheries and navigation. It is revealed that there are a
number of areas in which Australia’s domestic law does not align exactly
with provisions in the LOSC. This is due to the nature of the process for
domestic legislative incorporation of international law and the desire by
the Australian Government to contribute to the development of the
international law of the sea in areas where LOSC provisions are open to a
range of interpretations.