Law of the Sea Commons^™

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

American University International Law Review

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 …

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 …

Delays In The International Seabed Authority Mining Code: Insight From Twail And Bbnj Frameworks, Ria Wierma Putri, Yuga Narazua Khanza, Orima Melati Davey, Febryani Sabatira

Indonesia Law Review

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) plays a crucial role in governing the vast expanses of the ocean floor that lie beyond national jurisdictions, referred to as "the Area" under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Although the ISA has established regulations for deep-sea exploration, it has encountered significant challenges in finalizing a comprehensive mining code for resource exploitation. This ongoing delay underscores the notion that legal development is often catalyzed by broader social changes. To comprehend the factors contributing to this delay, it is essential to consider the historical context of UNCLOS 1982, a framework …

Unclos And The Law Of Occupation: On The Rights And Duties Of Occupying States In Maritime Areas, Louis Mcdonough Monroy

International Law Studies

As of today, the framework of ocean governance of coastal maritime areas created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is well understood and accepted by the international community. However, there are large and important areas of ocean space around the world that are subject to a more nuanced framework of interrelated norms. These are maritime areas that have come under the effective control of occupying States, often through the use of force. As such, the legal framework applicable to these maritime areas is that of the law of occupation. Nevertheless, because of the specificities …

Developments At The United Nations International Law Commission On Sea-Level Rise, Claudio Grossman Guiloff

American University International Law Review

This article examines some of the challenges presented by the phenomenon of sea-level rise in relation to international law with a focus on the analysis undertaken by the Study Group on Sea-Level Rise (“Study Group”) of the United Nations International Law Commission (“ILC”).

Towards Effective Governance Of Marine Geoengineering In West Africa: Aligning With Global And Regional Best Practices, Abdul Hafez Mahamah

LLM Theses

The impacts of climate change have compelled humanity to produce innovative ways of counteracting this phenomenon. Marine geoengineering technologies are regarded as an avenue to forestall climate change. However, these technologies pose a danger to the environment and threaten the survival of living organisms and humanity. The deployment of these technologies could exacerbate the adverse impacts that climate change has on the environment. Using doctrinal, legal history, and comparative legal analysis, this thesis studies how West Africa can ensure the effective governance of marine geoengineering activities in the subregion. The study examines the global and selected regional governance regimes and …

Adjusting The Aperture: The International Law Case For Qualifying Unmanned Vessels As Warships, Malgorzata Materna

International Law Studies

A number of stakeholders in the international community have advocated for the establishment of restrictions on the development and acquisition of unmanned vessels capable of contributing to naval warfare. These efforts are often based on the notion that the law did not anticipate the existence and use of unmanned vessels, and therefore the drafters of applicable legal frameworks—including the longstanding international law definition of a “warship”—did not consider them. However, this article evaluates, element by element, how unmanned vessels can, should, and already do meet the requirements for the warship designation under international law, based on a reading compatible with …

Unclos, Undrip & Tartupaluk: The Grim Tale Of Hans Isle And Graense, Christopher Mark Macneill

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

“Inuit have lived in the Arctic from time immemorial.” The Arctic, in the face of climate change, has become a hot spot for exploration, resource extraction, and increased shipping and scientific activity. “[The] Inuit . . . have had a common and shared use of the sea area and the adjacent coasts” among their own communities, and contemporaneously with the world. This vast circumpolar Inuit Arctic region includes land, sea, and ice stretching from eastern Russia (Chukotka region) across the Berring Strait, to Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, and Greenland, representing an Inuit homeland known as Nunaat. Hans Isle, a small …

“Nationals” At Forty: From An Undefined Unclos Term To Due Diligence Obligations On The State Of Nationality To Combat Iuu Fishing, Arron N. Honniball, Valentin J. Schatz

International Law Studies

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing represents a global common concern, incorporating large-scale and highly mobile environmental, economic, and sometimes criminal, concerns. IUU fishing can result in dysfunctional fisheries governance, including through the non-application of relevant conservation and management measures. Non-application results, in part, from both incomplete implementation and insufficient enforcement by flag, coastal, port, and market States, and the States of nationality. This article focuses on the State of nationality that may exercise territorial and extraterritorial prescriptive jurisdiction on the basis of the active personality principle of jurisdiction. Firstly, global instruments have long held the State of nationality as …

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 …

The Fortieth Anniversary Of The United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea, Bernard H. Oxman

International Law Studies

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea opened for signature on December 10, 1982. In commemoration of this important date, International Law Studies opens its 40th Anniversary Forum with this keynote compendium essay from Bernard Oxman.

"The most basic object of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea was to replace a system of conflicting unilateral claims of right with global agreement on the rules of the law of the sea and the process for their implementation, interpretation, and application. That remains the Convention’s most significant contribution to the rule of law in international affairs. Its …

Accidents On The High Seas And Flags Of Convenience: Whether The Bbnj Draft Treaty Will Address Insufficient Regulatory Compliance By Open Registry States, Kaitlyn O'Hara

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Maritime Security And Threat Of A Terrorist Attack, Aniruddha Rajput

Pace International Law Review

The incidents of terrorism have multiplied and so have the routes through which the terrorists reach their targets. There is a threat of a terrorist attack from the sea route aimed at targets on the land. Until now the academic scholarship as well as treaty practice has focused on challenges of terrorism to the safety of navigation rather than terrorist threats originating from the sea. Efforts at treaty making in this direction in the past are inadequate to address the problem. This article analyses the legal framework within which response may be undertaken to neutralize a terrorist threat through preventive …

Australia’S Maritime Security Challenges: Juggling International Law And Informal Agreements In An International Rules-Based Order, Natalie Klein

International Law Studies

Australia has voiced its commitment to the “rules-based order” since 2008 and the rules-based order has become a touchpoint of both Australian defense and foreign policy. Australia has also voiced its commitment to international law, particularly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to meet challenges to the maritime rules-based order, including in the South and East China Seas. References to international law have often been bundled in or left adjacent to the rules-based order and the two terms are not synonymous. This article discusses the role of international law in the rules-based order as it relates to …

China’S Iuu Fishing Fleet: Pariah Of The World’S Oceans, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

The leading global maritime security threat today is illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Left unchecked, IUU fishing exacerbates the depletion of fish stocks, thereby contributing to global geo-political instability by increasing tension among competing distant water fishing fleets, threatening the sustainability of coastal States’ fisheries, and damaging fragile ecosystems. This article reviews the regulatory framework applicable to IUU fishing. It then discusses China’s predatory fishing practices in various regions of the world. The article then examines the principle of exclusive flag State jurisdiction on the high seas and suggests that Chinese distant water fishing vessels that change their name …

Arctic Conflicts & Russian Foreign Policy, Tania Röttger, Theocharis N. Grigoriadis

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

In this paper, we analyze the intersections of legal and political dispute resolution methods in Arctic territorial disputes involving Russia and several Western governments, including Canada and the United States. There are two current disputes. The first dispute concentrates on the Lomonosov Ridge, a geological feature that runs near the North Pole and has been used by three states to claim the North Pole as part of their continental shelf. The second dispute deals with the legal status of the Northern Sea Route. Our paper evaluates the tradeoffs between the legal and political constraints in these disputes between Russia and …

China’S Revised Maritime Traffic Safety Law, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

China recently enacted amendments to its 1983 Maritime Traffic Safety Law, expanding its application from “coastal waters” to “sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China,” a term that is intentionally vague and not defined. Many of the amendments to the law exceed international law limits on coastal State jurisdiction that would illegally restrict freedom of navigation in the South China, East China, and Yellow Seas where China is embroiled in a number of disputed territorial and maritime claims with its neighbors. The provisions regarding the unilateral application of routing and reporting systems beyond the territorial sea …

Enclosure Of The Oceans Versus The Common Heritage Of Mankind: The Inherent Tension Between The Continental Shelf Beyond 200 Nautical Miles And The Area, Michael W. Lodge

International Law Studies

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a major achievement of diplomacy in the late twentieth century and is rightly regarded as the “constitution for the ocean.” UNCLOS has withstood the test of time and has demonstrated its flexibility and adaptability to changing circumstances. Notwithstanding, there is an underlying tension at the heart of UNCLOS as it tries to reconcile two fundamentally different approaches—the exclusivity of coastal State jurisdiction versus the international character and shared space of the Area beyond national jurisdiction. As the search for mineral deposits in the Area intensifies, and as …

Ukraine V. The Russian Federation: Navigating Conflict Over Sovereignty Under Unclos, NilüFer Oral

International Law Studies

Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, or according to Russia, its accession following a referendum, Ukraine brought several international cases against the Russian Federation, including two cases under Annex VII of UNCLOS: The Dispute Concerning Coastal State Rights in the Black Sea, Sea of Azov, and Kerch Strait in 2016 and The Detention of Three Ukrainian Naval Vessels in 2019. At the center of these disputes is the conflict between Ukraine and Russia over sovereignty of Crimea. Russia contested jurisdiction in all cases invoking different exceptions under UNCLOS, including the argument that the dispute concerns sovereignty over Crimea and …

Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships: New Possibilities—And Challenges—In Ocean Law And Policy, Joel Coito

International Law Studies

Landmark developments in autonomous vessel technology have the potential to deliver economic, environmental, and security benefits on the world’s oceans. Tempering the promise of that future is the stark reality that maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) challenge the existing international order of the seas. This article examines the promise and perils of MASS in three areas of enduring significance to commercial vessels, naval forces, and industry regulators: search and rescue (SAR), maritime counterdrug operations, and navigational safety. This article concludes that autonomous vessel technology will lead to a superior global regime for maritime SAR operations, enhanced detection and interdiction of …

Questions Relating To The Continental Shelf Beyond 200 Nautical Miles: Delimitation, Delineation, And Revenue Sharing, Helmut Tuerk

International Law Studies

Article 76 UNCLOS provides a new definition of the legal continental shelf, which grants coastal States sovereign rights and jurisdiction extending to the outer edge of the continental margin. The broad-shelf States had to make two compromises to have that provision accepted, that is revenue-sharing for the benefit of the international community with respect to the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, enshrined in Article 82 UNCLOS, and the delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond that distance “on the basis of” recommendations by the CLCS, in order that these limits may become “final and binding.” In …

The Value And Viability Of The South China Sea Arbitration Ruling: The U.S. Perspective 2016–2020, Jonathan G. Odom

International Law Studies

In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal issued a landmark ruling addressing a number of international law issues in the South China Sea. Yet more than four years have passed since that ruling, and the South China Sea situation remains unresolved. The South China Sea arbitration ruling was a positive step in applying a rules-based approach to framing, managing and resolving some of these international disputes. Thus, the international community should reflect upon the value and viability of the arbitral tribunal’s ruling, to include viewing it from the current perspectives of individual States. This article provides a more detailed review and …

U.S. Position On The U.N. Convention On The Law Of The Sea, Office Of The Staff Judge Advocate

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Fish Don't Litter In Your House: Is International Law The Solution To The Plastic Pollution Problem?, Taylor G. Keselica

Pace International Law Review

This article addresses the complex issue of plastic pollution—focusing on ocean plastics. Specifically, this article examines the ocean plastics problem, critiques current binding and non-binding international environmental law surrounding ocean plastics, hazardous wastes, and pollution, and proposes a more effective solution to the ocean plastics problem. Section I provides a basic history of the creation of plastics and discusses plastics as they are used today. Section II considers the concerns surrounding ocean plastics, focusing on impacts of plastic on marine ecosystems as well as human health effects. Section III, IV, and V discuss the ongoing attempts to address the ocean …

An Incident In The South China Sea, Rob Mclaughlin

International Law Studies

This article assesses characterization issues under the law of the sea, through the medium of an International Law Studies “maritime situation.” The article begins with a hypothetical scenario concerning an incident between a NATO warship and PRC vessels near Subi Reef and Thitu Island in the South China Sea. The analysis then turns to how we might assess characterization issues under the law of the sea as they apply to this incident. The lenses of analysis employed are: (1) Where, in law of the sea terms, did the incident happen? (2) Who, employing a law of the sea characterization scheme, …

China’S Maritime Law Enforcement Activities In The South China Sea, Diane Desierto

International Law Studies

This article evaluates China’s public justifications for its unilateral maritime law enforcement activities in the South China Sea, including recent incidents affecting Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia, against the binding international legal requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties to the South China Sea, and the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration UNCLOS Annex VII arbitral award In the Matter of the South China Sea Arbitration. China’s unilateral maritime law enforcement activities in the South China Sea do not comply with UNCLOS and applicable international …

Implementation Of Article 82 Of The United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea: The Challenge For Canada, Aldo Chircop

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Article 82 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is a novel provision introducing the first-ever international royalty on production from non-living resources within national jurisdiction, specifically from the extended continental shelf as defined in Article 76. Article 82 has several textual ambiguities that could pose a challenge for its interpretation and implementation by both affected coastal States and the International Seabed Authority. The Authority is responsible for receiving payments or contributions in kind and for effecting their distribution to States Parties to the Convention, especially developing countries, in accordance with equitable criteria. The Authority has …

How Two Sunken Ships Caused A War: The Legal And Cultural Battle Between Great Britain, Canada, And The Inuit Over The Franklin Expedition Shipwrecks, Christina Labarge

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Liability For Deep Seabed Mining In The Area: An Urgent Case For A Robust Strict Liability Regime, Keith Macmaster

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article will focus on liabilities for the Area and examine the question of liability for the various actors involved, including contractors/operators who carry out the exploitation of resources, sponsoring States, flag States, and the International Seabed Authority. It is necessary to analyze the current state of liability provisions, should environmental damage occur in the Area. The rapid pace of technological advancement and the unknown extent of environmental damage make a fulsome liability regime necessary. Unfortunately, as will be shown in this article, there are still extensive unknowns in the legal landscape. This article will investigate two areas of liability: …

Competencies Of The International Seabed Authority And The International Maritime Organization In The Context Of Activities In The Area, International Seabed Authority, International Maritime Organization, Aldo Chircop

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This report studies the interface of competencies of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) with respect to activities in the international seabed area (the Area). The study is undertaken within the context of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982 the Part XI Implementation Agreement, 1994 and the Seabed Disputes Chamber’s Advisory Opinion on Responsibilities and Obligations of States with respect to Activities in the Area, 2011. The report has been prepared against the backdrop of the agreement on cooperation concluded between ISA and IMO in 2016.