ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relevant provisions in the UN convention concerning the limits of the area beyond national jurisdiction from the viewpoint of the international community, and examines possible legal problems arising from the text of the provisions as regards the location of such limits. It assesses the way in which the interests of the international community are likely to be safeguarded under the terms of the UN Convention. For the international community, the boundary of the area beyond national jurisdiction is of major significance. The commission on the limits of the continental shelf is seen as having a vital role in ensuring that there is uniformity of application of Article 76 and that the boundary to the outer limit of the juridical continental shelf is equitably verified. Paragraph 8 of Article 76 requires that proposals concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf be submitted by the coastal state to the Commission on the limits of the Continental Shelf.
