This book is a collection of some of the papers given at the first and second Anglo-Soviet Symposia on the Law of the Sea and International Shipping held in Moscow and London in 1983 and 1984 respectively. Of the papers reproduced in the book, only four of the 18 are from Soviet pens. Their authors are all stated to be officials of the Ministry of the Maritime Fleet and to this extent it may be surmised that they reflect official Soviet thinking. One wonders, however, in the context of the law of the sea what role in the Soviet Union is played by scholars independent of ministries.

Perusal of the papers shows that some of them do not touch on issues in the law of the sea which are particularly relevant to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in their bilateral relations. Perhaps the Symposia do not have this requirement. In this category fall in particular the interesting papers by Parkinson on the Latin American contribution to the law of the sea and on prize law in the 17th and 18th centuries. One paper which is so relevant, however, is Robin Churchill’s well-researched study of the maritime zones of Spitsbergen. Drawing in particular on source materials written in Norwegian, he concludes that the relevant legal rules do not provide a clear answer to the question whether the 1920 Treaty applies beyond the territorial sea.

The book is divided into three parts by subject-matter. The first, with papers by Butler, White, Birnie, Weiss and Darwin, deals with the implementation of the 1982 Convention. Noteworthy here is a stimulating discussion by Gillian White on some aspects of UNCLOS