A Comprehensive Study of the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea and its Human Right Deficits

Abstract

This research digging deeper the human rights gaps within the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) and analyzes the challenges to protect individual rights at sea. The study concentrates on issues relating to maritime migration, rescue obligations and jurisdictional uncertainty. Using a doctrinal research methodology the study assesses treaties, case law and scholarly literature concerned about maritime human rights protection. The research concludes that UNCLOS equips limited human rights law that is necessary to ensure effective protection for individuals at sea. The paper discuss the lack of human rights at sea under UNCLOS which lead to uncertainty about state responsibility as well as weak protection for those groups that requires special treatment like migrants, seafarer and refugees. It also argued that human rights law at sea is essential for proper protection of individual fundamental rights at sea.