Law Commons^™

Marine Mammals And International Trade: Balancing Social Conscience With Trade Obligations – A Summary And Update On The World Trade Organization Seal Products Dispute, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

The Anthropocene, Autopoiesis And The Disingenuousness Of The Genuine Link: Addressing Enforcement Gaps In The Legal Regime For Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, Rosemary Rayfuse

Rosemary Rayfuse

The Earth has entered the anthropocene era; the era in which human activities have begun to have a significant global impact of the Earth’s climate and ecosystems. Covering more than 60% of the Earth’s surface, the oceans comprise a complex, dynamic and vast component of the Earth’s ecological system, second in size only to the global atmosphere. The oceans are a major provider of ecosystem services, food, mineral and other resources, and a major medium for global transportation and communication. Nevertheless, while once thought inexhaustible, unlimited and capable of supporting any human activity or use, it is now clear that …

W(H)Ither Tuvalu? International Law And Disappearing States, Rosemary Rayfuse

Rosemary Rayfuse

No abstract provided.

International Law And Disappearing States: Utilising Maritime Entitlements To Overcome The Statehood Dilemma, Rosemary Rayfuse

Rosemary Rayfuse

This paper examines the rules of international law relating to the establishment of maritime zones and their application in the case of sea level rise with particular reference to ‘disappearing states’. Substantive and procedural options for overcoming the presumption of the ambulatory nature of baselines are examined and the analysis applied to situations of inundation of island states by sea level encroachment. It is argued that it would be both inequitable and inconsistent with the objectives of the law of the sea for disappearing states to lose their maritime zones. A solution to the ‘disappearing state’ dilemma is suggested through …

Iron Ocean Fertilization And International Law, David Freestone, Rosemary Rayfuse

Rosemary Rayfuse

Intentional ocean fertilisation and the commercial sale of associated carbon offsets raise a number of issues in international law. On the one hand states are obliged to adopt adaptation and mitigation measures to prevent dangerous climate change. On the other hand, international law obliges states to protect and preserve the marine environment and to act in a precautionary manner in the face of scientific uncertainty. This article examines the application of the international law of the sea to ocean fertilisation, with particular reference to the dumping regime which prohibits the dumping of wastes or other materials from vessels into the …

Warm Waters And Cold Shoulders: Jostling For Jurisdiction In Polar Oceans, Rosemary Rayfuse

Rosemary Rayfuse

In May 2008 the five Arctic coastal states adopted the Ilullisat Declaration in which they asserted their role as stewards, for the international community, of the Arctic Ocean ecosystem. This paper discusses the legal basis for their claim to stewardship with particular reference to the high seas portion of the central Arctic Ocean, and their assertion that no need exists for a new comprehensive legal regime in respect of those high seas waters. It is argued that while the high seas regime of the Arctic may be extensive, it is not comprehensive. Thus, the legitimacy of the claim to stewardship …

Australia And Climate Change Diplomacy: Towards A Post-2012 Regime – Policy Proposals On Australia’S Climate Change Diplomacy, Rosemary Rayfuse, Shirley Scott

Rosemary Rayfuse

A workshop on Australia and Climate Change Diplomacy: Towards a Post-Kyoto Regime (the Workshop) was held at the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales on 22-23 November 2007. The purpose of the Workshop was to evaluate Australia’s past and current climate change diplomacy and to make policy recommendations for the future. The interdisciplinary Workshop brought together 19 leading experts in economics, science, international relations, law, and business. The majority were academics, but the group also included private consultants and NGO representatives from Australia with one visitor from China. The Workshop was organised and hosted by Associate Professor Rosemary …

Regional Allocation Issues Or Zen And The Art Of Pie Cutting, Rosemary Rayfuse

Rosemary Rayfuse

Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) have increasingly become the mechanism of choice through which high seas fisheries are to be managed. How these organisations allocate fishing opportunities for the dwindling resources under their jurisdiction is, however, a difficult and often controversial issue. Achieving equitable, scientifically reliable and sustainable allocations as between members and as between members and non-members has serious implications for the operational efficacy and legitimacy of an RFMO and its management regime. This paper examines the allocation practices adopted in RFMOs in the context of the tension between state sovereignty and the development of rules of international law …

Reimagining Child Soldiers, Mark Drumbl

Mark A. Drumbl

No abstract provided.

Contemporary International Law Issues In Asia Pacific: The Importance And Challenge Of The Difference Between Rules And Principles In International Law, David D. Caron

David D. Caron

No abstract provided.

International Criminal Law: Nature, Origins And A Few Key Issues, Bartram Brown

Bartram Brown

The purpose of international criminal law is to establish the criminal responsibility of individuals for international crimes. Public international law is traditionally focused on the rights and obligations of states, and thus is not particularly well suited to this task. It has adapted through a long and slow historical process, drawing upon multiple sources. Many of the chapters in this Handbook explore to some extent the historical development of international criminal law. I will not attempt to summarize that history in detail, but a few historical observations here will help to explain how international criminal law emerged from its sources …

Waiting For Justice

Dr. Saumya Uma

The Law Merchant-Redux, Art Gemmell Dr.

art gemmell

The Lex Mercatoria- Redux Arthur J. Gemmell and Autumn Talbott* ABSTRACT

The lex mercatoria developed as merchant-made, private law. Unlike other bodies of law, the lex mercatoria was not born of statutory or “natural” law but from practical, day-to-day commercial usage. In fact, medieval commercial activities propagated the “most favorable trading practices and customs of the various foreign markets within which [merchants] did business.”

What evolved in the Middle Ages out of necessity stands today as a sometimes controversial testimony to the power of self-regulation through a specialized and practical body of law: the lex mercatoria that has for centuries …

The Challenge Of Child Labour In International Law. By Franziska Humbert, Jennifer Stevenson Prilliman

Jennifer S. Prilliman