Over the past 45 years, the Annual COLP has gathered international scholars and senior diplomats together to undertake interdisciplinary dialogue and research on the most challenging issues in the law of the sea and ocean affairs. This year’s conference will mark the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and will allow world-leading experts to take stock of recent developments in the international legal order as it applies to the ocean.

This year, COLP is sponsored by Stockton Center for International Law (SCIL) at the United States Naval War College and the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA), co-sponsored by the Embassy of Japan in Malaysia, World Maritime University (WMU)-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute (GOI) and the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), with additional generous support from the Centre for International Law (CIL NUS), the National Center for the Sea and Maritime Law (DEHUKAM) (Turkey), and the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA).