THE UN CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA - AMENDMENTS OR INTERPRETATION

Ten years after the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea it is now possible to revise and simplify the ru les concerning straight baselines which may be used for the closing of indentations and bays; new rules would settle the many outlaw situati ons which exist at present and would enable the definition of many sit uations which still have to be settled. Draft new rules concerning str aight baselines are proposed. The 1982 United Nations Convention on th e Law of the Sea entered into force in 1994; there are now many articl es in force, which contain ambiguities, some technical errors and tech nical concepts which have been de facto overtaken by progress and Stat e practice. Certainly, many parts of the Convention require significan t modifications or improvements: it suffices to cite Part II ''Territo rial Sea and Contiguous Zone'', Part VI ''Continental Shelf'' and Part XI ''The Area'' to give an idea of the work with which legal experts will be confronted. Articles 312 and 313 are also in force which gover n the revision or amendment of the Convention. As from 2004 it will be possible to propose specific amendments and to ask for a Conference t o be convened to consider any proposed amendments. The intention of th is short paper is to amend and simplify the text of Part II of the Con vention and, in particular, those articles which, in practice, have be en and are normally ignored or infringed. The final goal is to produce a text which corresponds to reality, whether it be the geographic, ju ridical or practical reality. Part II is composed of 32 articles on '' Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone''; of these Articles 3, 4, 5 and 7 to 16 specifically concern ''baselines'' land, in particular, ''strai ght baselines'') from which the breadth of the territorial sea and con tiguous zone is measured and the principles and limitations for drawin g them and the effects consequently produced.