Volume III of the Commentary on Law of the Sea Convention continues and completes the examination of the work of the Second Committee of UNCLOS III which commenced in the second volume of this series, and with which it forms a single unit. It covers Arts 86–132 (Parts VII to X) of the Convention, that is, the High Seas, the regime of islands, enclosed and semi-enclosed seas and the right of access of landlocked States to and from the sea and freedom of transit. As in previous volumes, the coverage of each Part of the Convention is prefaced by a short but informative introduction. Each Article is then set out and its drafting history examined. A final section provides an overview of the final text. The general Introduction to the work of the Second Committee as a whole, found in Vol. II, is repeated in its entirety. If these two volumes are truly to be regarded as a unity, this seems unnecessary.

The essential unity of the two volumes is underlined by the inclusion within Vol. III of a generous selection of supporting documentation relevant to both. A Documentary Annex of over 200 pages contains: The Report of the Second Committee (Territorial Sea) from the 1930 Hague Conference of the Codification of International Law; the Final Act of the UNCLOS I (1958) and the four Geneva Conventions on the Law of the Sea, together with the Optional Protocol concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes and the nine Resolutions; the Final Act of UNCLOS II (1960); the “Main Trends” working paper from UNCLOS III; the August 1994 Draft of the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and High Migratory Fish Stocks (this was subject to some amendment prior to the adoption of the final text in August 1995) and G.A. Resolution 49/28 of 6 December 1994.

Other documents relevant to particular Articles, rather than to the work of the Committee as a whole, are appended to the examination of those Articles. While this is quite sensible, it is a pity that the presence of these equally useful documents does not receive greater prominence in the index. These documents include: GA Res. 44/225 of 22 December 1989 on Large Scale Pelagic driftnet fishing (p. 44); the 1993 FAO Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas (p. 48); the 1986 UN Convention on Conditions for Registration of Ships (p. 110); the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the safety of Maritime Navigation (p. 186); Arts 17 and 18 of the 1988 UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (p. 228); the 1921 Convention and Statute on Freedom of Transit (p. 384) and the 1965 Convention on Transit Trade of Landlocked States (p. 391). The inclusion of so much additional material further enhances the usefulness of this volume as a tool of research and reference.

As is evidenced by the inclusion of so much material subsequent to the 1982 Convention text, its regulation of activities on the High Seas has been subject to some important development and refinement. Looking at the Commentaries on the Articles, it is possible to identify at least one reason why this was necessary. Many of the Articles are, in substance, a repetition of the equivalent provisions in the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas, but modified to take account of the