The Rights and Duties of the Countries of Transit in the Light of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea

For many years the seas and oceans have been used as a way of communication and play an important role in the life of the international community. The fact that the seas are directly linked to the interests of governments is an undeniable fact. One of the major benefits of governments is trade by sea, but given the geographical situation, not all countries have direct access to the sea and the oceans. There are numerous conventions that provide for different provisions on free access to maritime resources, international trade by sea and transit traffic, but the 1982 Convention is the most comprehensive agreement that fully and exhaustively covers maritime rights. The purpose of the present study is to examine the rights and obligations of transit countries in accordance with the 1982 Convention. Lack of free access to the sea and thus to the direct transit, in turn has an impact on the economies of countries. Transit relations between the concerned countries are often in the form of agreements and as a result of negotiations between countries, which largely eliminates to barriers to the landlocked countries' access to the sea and direct transit. Therefore, this study concludes that all countries, both with and without offshores, have rights and duties to establish order in the legal system of the seas and agreements between countries play an important role in establishing that order.