After 36 hours of non-stop negotiations to finalize what would be an historic agreement to protect the high seas and create a new regime for marine genetic resources, on 4 March 2023, President Rena Lee announced “The Ship Has Reached the Shore!” Just over 40 years ago, on 10 December 1982, President Tommy Koh had brought to a successful conclusion the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as the “Constitution for the Oceans.” Both negotiations took years, were complex and required navigating diverse and at times divergent State interests with much at stake.

Moderated by CIL Director Dr. Nilufer Oral, this webinar will bring together two leading international lawyers and diplomats from Singapore who led two sets of international treaty negotiations on law of the sea more than forty years apart.

Join us as they share their insights on the complexities of multilateral treaty negotiations on a subject-matter that has significant implications for both national interests and the interests of the global community.