Law of the Sea Commons^™

International Governance Of Ocean Iron Fertilization Research: A Case Study Of The Proposed Exploring Ocean Iron Solutions Field Experiments, Ashwin Murthy, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Ocean iron fertilization (OIF) has been a subject of scientific research since the 1980s. The primary international legal instruments regulating OIF are the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention or LC) and the 1996 Protocol to that Convention (London Protocol or LP). To guide regulation of research activities, under the LC and LP, the Assessment Framework was developed.

To demonstrate how domestic regulators might use the Assessment Framework, this paper explores its application to recently proposed OIF field trials advanced by the Exploring Ocean Iron Solutions (ExOIS) research consortium. …

Dokdo/Takeshima And Maritime Delimitation Between The Republic Of Korea And Japan: A Comment On Icj Dispute Resolution, Katherine Angell

Celebrating WCL Student Authors

The Republic of Korea (Korea) should agree to submit the issue of sovereignty over Dokdo/Takeshima and the issue of maritime delimitation in the East Sea/Sea of Japan to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) because the ICJ is likely to decide that Dokdo/Takeshima is Korean territory and the tensions in the East Sea/Sea of Japan can be resolved to allow further cooperation between the two nations. The ICJ is the primary avenue for peacefully resolving territorial and maritime delimitation disputes between nations, and the ICJ has developed a substantial body of case law analyzing these issues. The ICJ considers various …

Roger Williams University School Of Law Commencement Exercises (Program) 05-16-2025, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Commencement (1996- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Charting A New Course: From Navy Officer To Legal Advocate 4-22-2025, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Protecting The Waters 4-10-2025, Andrew Clark, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Rwu Law Teams Earn Top Honors At National Admiralty Moot Court Competition 4-2-2025, Helga Melgar

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Changemakers: Susannah Johnson : L'25 : Charting A New Course : From Navy Officer To Legal Advocate, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Changemakers: Julia Meskis '25 : 3l : Protecting The Waters 4-10-2025, Andrew Clark

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Vessel Charters In Sea And Space, Adam J. Macleod

Scholarly Articles

When the ship MV Dali allided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Harbor in March 2024, it caused the bridge to collapse. This collapse killed six people, destroyed a major highway in a large city, and closed one of America's busiest ports. Officials must determine who is responsible. Though the formal investigation is still ongoing, officials will likely identify the responsible parties using long-settled rules about the possession, command, and control of vessels engaged in maritime activities. Not all cases are as straight-forward. Around the world, it is getting more difficult to assign legal responsibility for illegal and …

Salvaging Article Iii, Annie Brett, Ryan Scott

UF Law Faculty Publications

Admiralty was once the foundation of our legal and economic survival. In recent years, however, it has come to be viewed as an anachronistic backwater of the law. Unfortunately, this perception belies the reality: admiralty law is as vitally important as ever, not just to the commerce that it supports but in the realities it illuminates about the federal courts and our constitutional structure.

This Article looks at the case study of historic treasure shipwrecks to show how our legal system has strayed increasingly far from the core principles of admiralty that the founders enshrined in Article III of the …

The Ironically Important Role Of Incidental Take Authorizations In Whale Conservation, Alexander Carbaugh-Rutland, Jessica Owley, Kenneth Broad

Articles

The late 1970s and early '80s saw a regime shift in wildlife protection under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). That shift may be impeding the recovery of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoise species) in ways that are yet underexplored. As enacted, the MMPA and ESA established a conservation framework designed to reduce, to the fullest extent possible, "takes" of protected species. Between 1978 and 1982, a series of amendments to both statutes introduced a complex web of incidental take authorizations designed to ensure Congress' initial push for wildlife conservation would not impede economic …

Human Rights At Sea: Analyzing States' Responses To Cruise Ships During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lixin Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the treatment of cruise ships by coastal states was inconsistent, with some ships being allowed to dock while others were not. To that end, this Note focuses on the obligations that a coastal state owes to the individuals onboard the cruise ships in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the rights to life and health. It further considers whether and how such rights are to be balanced with other countervailing considerations of such states, such as the risk of transmission to the local communities. This author concludes with the view that …

China In The Unclos And Bbnj Negotiations, Yesterday Once More?, Nengye Liu, Shirley V. Scott

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper compares China’s stance during the UNCLOS negotiations – the starting point of contemporary law of the sea, with its engagement in the latest development of BBNJ negotiations. It answers the question, how does China participate in these two important rules-making processes of the international law of the sea? By identifying salient positions China took in each set of lengthy negotiations and explaining the reasons behind, the paper also aims to reflect what a rising China may bring to the international legal maritime order in the foreseeable future. The first part of this paper, on the nature of China’s …

The International Legal Framework Of Oceanic Shipping Of Carbon Dioxide For Permanent Storage, Carolina Arlota, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defines carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) as “a process in which a relatively pure stream of carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial and energy-related sources is separated (captured), conditioned, compressed, and transported to a storage location for long-term isolation from the atmosphere.” Therefore, CCS encompasses a series of steps, at minimum: capturing carbon dioxide, its transportation to a storage site, and its injection into the subsurface for permanent storage. As such, CCS does not refer to any single activity or technology. This Article focuses on the transportation aspect of CCS and, more precisely, …

The Law Of General Average, Luca Anderlini, Joshua C. Teitelbaum

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Part of a ship's cargo is jettisoned in order to save the vessel and the remaining cargo from imminent peril. How should the loss be shared among the cargo owners? The law of general average, an ancient principle of maritime law, prescribes that the owners share the loss proportionally according to the respective values of their cargo. We analyze whether the law of general average is a truthful and efficient mechanism. That is, we investigate whether it induces truthful reporting of cargo values and yields a Pareto efficient allocation in equilibrium. We show that the law of general average is …

The Medical/Legal/Human Disconnect In Cure Cases: A Proposal For Reform, Thomas C. Galligan Jr.

Journal Articles

The obligation of a seaman's employer, traditionally the owner of the vessel on which the seaman served, to provide a seaman with cure or medical treatment for injuries or conditions that were either caused by the seaman's service of the ship or that manifested themselves during that service is of ancient origin. The obligation lasts until the seaman attains what the courts call maximum medical improvement, a medical decision, even if further treatment would ease the seaman's pain, prevent relapse, or prevent degeneration of the seaman's condition. Under the traditional rules, if medicine could not fix the seaman's problem, then …

On The Cultural Stakes Of Deep Seabed Mining, Julian Arato, Aline Jaeckel, Lucas Lixinski

Other Publications

Ownership over the deep seabed and its mineral riches was unsettled until well into the twentieth century. Yet, by the 1960s, a remarkable spirit of universalism prevailed. States declared the deep seabed to be the common heritage of [hu]mankind, determining that its exploitation and protection would require collective management. The seabed beyond national jurisdiction (or, the “Area”) spans roughly half of the surface of the Earth. It contains critical minerals, such as cobalt and copper, which technological advances have rendered increasingly within reach. States have worked collectively and proactively to regulate the near-future exploitation of the deep seas, thus far …

Virtual Energy, Joel B. Eisen, Felix Mormann, Heather E. Payne

Faculty Scholarship

From employment to education, many areas of our daily lives have gone virtual, including the virtual workplace and virtual classes. By comparison, the way we generate, deliver, and consume electricity is an anachronism. And the electric industry’s outdated business model and regulatory framework are failing. For the last century-and-a-half, we have relied on ever larger power plants to generate the electricity we consume, often hundreds of miles away from the point of production. But the outsized carbon footprint of these power plants and the need to transmit their output over long distances threaten the electric grid’s reliability, affordability, and long-term …

Law School News: Rake To Plate: Rwu Law Students Dive Into The Clamming Industry 10-4-2023, Grace Boland

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Island Musings: A Selective Bibliography Of Early Key West, Robin Schard

Articles

This bibliography identifes and describes 75 works that focus on Key West during its first 50 years (1821-71) as a U.S. possession. General, legal, and popular culture materials are included.

Twenty Years After Krieger V Law Society Of Alberta: Law Society Discipline Of Crown Prosecutors And Government Lawyers, Andrew Flavelle Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Krieger v. Law Society of Alberta held that provincial and territorial law societies have disciplinary jurisdiction over Crown prosecutors for conduct outside of prosecutorial discretion. The reasoning in Krieger would also apply to government lawyers. The apparent consensus is that law societies rarely exercise that jurisdiction. But in those rare instances, what conduct do Canadian law societies discipline Crown prosecutors and government lawyers for? In this article, I canvass reported disciplinary decisions to demonstrate that, while law societies sometimes discipline Crown prosecutors for violations unique to those lawyers, they often do so for violations applicable to all lawyers — particularly …

Marine Law Symposium: Can Offshore Wind Development Have A Net Positive Impact On Biodiversity? Regulatory And Scientific Perspectives And Considerations April 20-21, 2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law Marine Affairs Institute, The Nature Conservancy

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Marine Law Symposium: Can Offshore Wind Development Have A Net Positive Impact On Biodiversity? Regulatory And Scientific Perspectives And Considerations, April 20-21, 2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Developing Model Federal Legislation To Advance Safe And Responsible Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal Research In The United States, Romany M. Webb, Korey Silverman-Roati

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This model federal legislation aims to advance safe and responsible ocean carbon dioxide removal (CDR) research in U.S. waters. Controlled field trials and other in-ocean research is critical to improve scientific and societal understanding of CDR techniques that could help the U.S. reach its climate goals. However, existing legal frameworks were not designed to regulate ocean CDR and, in some cases, unnecessarily or inappropriately restrict needed research. The purpose of this proposed model legislation is to establish clear and efficient permitting regime for in-ocean CDR research. At the same time, the model legislation builds in consultation, monitoring, and other safeguards …

Law Library Blog (March 2023): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Ocean - Moving Forward At 50: London Convention/Protocol And Stockholm Declaration, Fiftieth Anniversary Proceedings, Ronán Long, José Manuel Pacheco Castillo, Elnaz Barjandi, Ríán Derrig, Linda Del Savio, Dorothee Seybold, Andrew Birchenough, Fredrik Haag

Conference Papers

Fifty years have elapsed since environmental concerns were brought to the fore of the international community’s attention. The year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the London Convention and the Stockholm Declaration, two landmark international instruments that set a path towards the current international environmental regulatory framework. The International Maritime Organization and the World Maritime University hosted the joint International Academic Conference ‘Protecting the Ocean – Moving forward at 50: London Convention and Stockholm Declaration’ with the aim of raising awareness, discussing ocean-climate-related topics, and charting new avenues for impactful future research and policy initiatives. This report …

Utilizing Legal Expertise To Positively Impact Coastal Communities, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Seabed Mining And The Phase 1 Environmental Standards And Guidelines, Keith Macmaster

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The oceans are home to a rich diversity of plant and animal life and a source of food and marine resources that drive economies. Climate change and pollution are changing ocean dynamics and the ability to support life. Seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction will add to the ocean's stressors and could cause severe environmental damage. The International Seabed Authority (“ISA”) is mandated to manage access to and benefits from the seabed, its subsoil and mineral resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the “Area”). Although the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea sets out the legal …

Bristol And Newport And The Transatlantic Slave Trade 09-01-2022, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Disaggregating Slavery And The Slave Trade, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum

Articles

International law prohibits slavery and the slave trade as peremptory norms, customary international law prohibitions and crimes, humanitarian law prohibitions, and non-derogable human rights. Human rights bodies, however, focus on human trafficking, even when slavery and the slave trade—and not human trafficking—are enumerated within their mandates. International human rights law has conflated human trafficking with slavery and the slave trade. Consequently, human trafficking has subsumed the slave trade and, at times, slavery prohibitions, increasing perpetrator impunity for slavery and the slave trade abuses and denying full expressive justice to survivors.

This Article disaggregates slavery from the slave trade and slavery …