Angela Del Vecchio and Roberto Virzo (eds.), Interpretations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea by International Courts and Tribunals

Abstract

1. This volume opens with a paper concerning the contribution of Benedetto Conforti, to the international law of the sea. The author states that, the “functionalist theory”, as proposed by Conforti, has been applied widely over the decades, indicating an “extension of the power of control of the coastal State in the pursuit of certain, specific interests, first identified in fishing, customs supervision, etc., and then in all attainable utilities in adjacent waters” (p. 10). Conforti’s idea is based on the functional control of coastal States and a denial of spatial control. In addition, he developed practical applications of this theory in connection with other issues, such as the possibility of extending the exclusive economic zone concept to the Mediterranean, which in turn would lead to maritime zone delimitation. It is perceived that Conforti’s work consists of using a method directed at identifying the legal problems and attaining solutions based on practice. The second paper deals with the general rule of interpretation in international jurisprudence relating to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The author states that international courts and tribunals often apply the general rule of interpretation, as proposed in Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaty, to avoid a unilateral interpretation of UNCLOS, as well as to lay stress on the progressive emergence of new rules that reflects a change in the interests of the international community as a whole. As indicated by the author, the new forms of sovereignty, imperialism and unilateralism have characterised the external relations of an ever-increasing number of States against the background of portending to protect only the interests of a coastal State.