Land-Locked and Geographically Disadvantaged States in the International Law of the Sea

At the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, the land-locked countries of the world, together with their geographically disadvantaged counterparts, made a determined effort to obtain special recognition in the Law of the Sea Convention. As members of the so-called LLGDS Group, they challenged the position of coastal States in several areas and introduced proposals which are yet to be fully assessed in the literature on the Law of the Sea. Published at a time when many intriguing questions on the Law of the Sea remain the subjects of intense controversy, this book charts the LLGDS effort at the UNCLOS III and critically examines the extent to which the 1982 Convention and the customary law reflects the perspective of the LLGDS Group. It also offers detailed consideration of many key issues in the law and politics of the sea.