Legislative implementation of the law of the sea convention in Australia

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.