In 1958, for the first time the primary rules of customary international law regulating the uses of the sea were codified as treaties. The Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, the Convention on the Continental Shelf and the Convention on the High Seas are the most important treaties amongst others. UN Convention on the Law of the Sea was introduced by the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea after reviewing and extending the provisions of the treaties. The United Kingdom was not an original party to the Law of the Sea Convention but it finally acceded to the Convention on 25 July 1997 with effect from 24 August 1997. Various types of maritime zones are recognized by international law, such as internal waters, the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf. Such zones are subject to different coastal jurisdictions. In addition to these zones, there is the zone of high seas. The high seas are open to all States and beyond national sovereignty and the freedom of the high seas includes rights of navigation and fishing.
