The speech that inspired the Law of the Sea

Witness History

In November 1967, the Maltese diplomat, Arvid Pardo, addressed the United Nations with a remarkable speech that shaped the laws governing the sea.

Pardo's message is immortalised in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was adopted in 1982, and is now the fundamental legislation governing difficult topics such as deep sea mining.

Artemis Irvine spoke to Christina Pardo Menez, Arvid Pardo's daughter, and his friend David Attard.

A Whistledown production for the BBC World Service.

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(Photo: Arvid Pardo. Credit: Elisabeth Mann Borgese fonds, Dalhousie University Archives)