ABSTRACT
The 1958 Geneva Conference was preceded by the work of the International Law Commission, a group of experts from various countries that met at the Hague with a Special Rapporteur serving as the chairman of the group. Their work was concerned with a regime for the territorial sea. In its final report, the commission authorized the convening of an international conference of "plenipotentiaries." They said:
In 1958, the conference opened with many nations represented. The conference created five primary committees: First Committee, (territorial sea and contiguous zone); Second Committee (high seas and general regime); Third Committee (high seas fishing and conservation of natural resources); Fourth Committee (Continental Shelf); and the Fifth Committee, which undertook the question of free access to the sea of landlocked countries.
