This page was last updated on 3 September 2008
International Convention
of March 14, 1884 for the Protection of Submarine Cables
The breaking or injury of a submarine cable, done wilfully or through culpable negligence,
and resulting in the total or partial interruption or embarrassment of telegraphic
communications, shall be a punishable offence, but the punishment inflicted shall be no
bar to a civil action for damages.
Convention on the High Seas (1958)
Convention on the Territorial Sea (1958)
Convention on the
Continental Shelf (1958)
NB: the 1958 Law of the Sea Conventions have been
largely superseded by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is the third in a series of
United Nations efforts to codify the rules by which nations utilise over 70% of
the earth's surface. All aspects of the use of the oceans, from the edge of the
coast to the bottom of the deepest sea are addressed in this convention.
UNCLOS 1982: Submarine Cables and Pipelines
Legal Regimes Chart
Chart prepared by the ICPC's International Cable Law Adviser showing the
various legal regimes that apply to submarine cables in US national waters and beyond.