Responsibility and Accountability in Maritime Law
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CHAPTER 6
Management control by the Flag State
The Flag State and UNCLOS
The high seas are open to all States, as expressly provided under Article 87 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which creates nothing new, but serves to perpetuate this ancient international law and, as Lord Bingham emphasised,1 the State must comply with its obligations under international law as a fundamental pillar of the rule of law by which it judges, and will be judged by others.