Inadequacies of the straits' passage regime in the LOS draft

Appraisers of recent sessions of the Law of the Sea Conference have directed their attention, sometimes at the expense of other critical issues, to the emerging regime to govern seabed mining. For one reason or another, a general Western consensus has emerged that the draft treaty's textual arrangements for traditional and innovative maritime and aerial passage are satisfactory. That complacent consensus may rest on perilously unrealistic assumptions.