Introduction to UNCLOS 1982 as a System of Regulation

Chapter 1 introduces the general idea and some of the underlying themes of this volume and sets a framework for its structure and the following contributions. Forty years on, it is argued that UNCLOS indeed still has huge importance for the governance of the oceans but also has its limitations in different ways. This raises the question how UNCLOS can maintain its importance as the main instrument of legal ocean governance and how methodological approaches may support this. Taking the recent Nord Stream incident as an illustrative example, the underlying ideas about the timeliness of a volume on UNCLOS as a system of regulation are presented, followed by the themes that were given to the contributors to this volume as a backdrop for their own work. The chapter concludes with an outline of the four parts of this volume: law and order at sea; UNCLOS and human rights; UNCLOS and private actors; and UNCLOS and methodology.