The claim for limiting marine research: Compliance with international environmental standards

Abstract The concept of the “common heritage of mankind”; necessarily requires that there must be environmental protection of that common heritage, and indeed, of all ocean areas. A sine qua non of protecting and conserving the ocean is freedom of marine research. The history of the negotiations at the Third U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea indicates that there were compromises which accommodated the concerns of both the developed and the developing countries. Unfortunately, a “consent regime”; monitored by coastal states was eventually incorporated into the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Even so, it is important to build a record of support for maximizing the freedom of marine scientific research.