This seven-volume work was published between 1985 and 2011 with the goal of better understanding of the lawmaking process at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III).
[2] The Virginia Commentary is an important resource for interpretation of the Convention and its Implementation Agreement of 1994, commonly cited in both court filings and research papers on the subject.
In 1976 he had indicated the need of the travaux préparatoires for the treaty to the Center for Oceans Law and Policy and worked as a general editor of the set of volumes alongside Shabtai Rosenne.
[1] The UNCLOS III was forged to a large extent in informal meetings, thus the Commentary is partly based on recollections of participants and does not represent an official record.
[4] Volume I of the Commentary (published in 1985, ISBN 90-247-3145-3) includes the text of the Convention describes UNCLOS III negotiating process and techniques.