Assessing the Reality of the Deep Seabed Regime

This Article argues that, in order to be effective, international law must stand in some direct relation to state practice and that the gap between legal prescription and state practice must not be too large or the law will be ineffective. The author examines this gap in relation to the deep seabed provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and suggests that, if the gap is not narrowed, the treaty may never enter into force.