ABSTRACT
Nine years after its opening procedural session in New York (3 to 15 December 1973), the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea came to an end. In view of the difficult negotiations that took place during this period, several observations may be made regarding the role of informal negotiations in the conference. A relevant point in negotiating the new treaty on the law of the sea was the use of the consensus rule. The content that is now included within the scope of the law of the sea has grown substantially. The validity of the consensus process depends upon the extent to which the chairman of the organization investigates whether there are objections to a given proposal. The consensus process continued to be applied in the sea bed committee created under General Assembly Resolution 2467 on 21 December 1968.
