Admiralty Commons^™

Securing The Precipitous Heights: U.S. Lawfare As A Means To Confront China At Sea, In Space, And Cyberspace, Garret S. Bowman

Pace International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Undersea Cables: The Ultimate Geopolitical Chokepoint, Bert Chapman

FORCES Initiative: Strategy, Security, and Social Systems

This work provides historical and contemporary overviews of this critical geopolitical problem, describes the policy actors addressing this in the U.S. and selected other countries, and provides maps and information on many undersea cable work routes. These cables are chokepoints with one dictionary defining chokepoints as “a strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region."

Gulf Of Guinea And Maritime (In)Security: Musings On Some Implications Of Applicable Legal Instruments, Edwin E. Egede

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The Gulf of Guinea (GoG) is an enormous and diverse region consisting of approximately 6,000 km of coastline extending from Senegal to Angola. It is a maritime area of strategic importance because it is resource-rich with hydrocarbons, fish and other resources. Also, it is important as a vital maritime transit hub. Unlike certain other shipping lanes that have been identified as chokepoints, the GoG, because of its width, is not susceptible to blockades and major shipping accidents. Previously the maritime (in)security in the GoG had not received the same high-profile attention from the international community as the situation in the …

Apocalypse Ahoy: How The Cruise Industry Boom Is Harming The World’S Oceans And Problems With Enforcing Environmental Regulations, Nicholas J. Sarnelli

Brooklyn Law Review

The global cruise line industry enjoyed an incredible surge in popularity before the coronavirus pandemic. While the industry nearly sank in the wake of the pandemic, cruise lines are poised to continue to enjoy record-breaking profits while continuing to build larger and more opulent ships. This boom exacts a heavy toll on the environment, as cruise ships burn dirty fuel and dump dirty water into the world’s oceans. The current international legal framework for regulating the world’s shipping industry allows companies to effectively select which nation’s environmental laws to submit to, with ships flying under so-called “flags of convenience”. While …

Qualification Of Port State Control Inspectors In Nigeria : A Critical Analysis, Faith Chibuoge Azubike

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Analysing Risks In Naval Operations : The Case Of Visit, Board, Search And Seizure Operations In Cote D’Ivoire Navy, Djaiblond Dominique-Yohann Kouakou

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Interdiction Operations At Sea : A Critical Analysis Of Irregular Migration Beyond The Territorial Seas, Junya Otani

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Does The Criminal Enforcement Of Federal Environmental Law Deter Environmental Crime? The Case Of The U.S. Resource Conservation And Recovery Act, Dr. Joshua Ozymy, Dr. Melissa L. Jarrell

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice are tasked with the investigation and prosecution of hazardous waste crimes occurring under the U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). For criminal sanctions to be effective, the probability of detection and severity of punishment must be significant enough to raise the cost to benefit ratio to deter environmental crimes. While research examines sanctioning under RCRA, little work examines the plausibility of the deterrent effect of criminal sanctions. Through content analysis of all environmental crime prosecutions resulting from EPA criminal investigations, 1983-2019, we explore the probability of detection and …

Hypocrisy On The High Seas: An Examination Of The Conflicting Policy Goals And Actions Of The International Community Regarding Illegal, Unreported, And Unregulated Fishing, Peter J. Tamburello

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Fish and the fishing industry are one of the main sources of food protein and commerce in many areas of the world, whether it be from traditional and artisanal fishing practiced in Somalia and other undeveloped countries or large scale international commercial fishing from rich and industrialized nations. The world’s oceans are currently being plagued by overfishing both from legally authorized activities and Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing. The purpose of this paper is to examine the problems plaguing the world’s fisheries with an eye towards the environmental damage and economic harm that stem from it. It is also to …

The Survival Of Animal Care Organizations Impacted By The Covid-19 Pandemic In 2020, Juan Fernando Torrico

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This note assessed how animal care organizations and the animals in their care were impacted, negatively and positively, by the coronavirus pandemic. Several animal care organizations in the United States–including animal shelters, rescues, sanctuaries, and zoos–were contacted directly, and invited to share their experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They provided valuable in-depth insight into how government shutdowns and social distancing impacted their facility; if any of the animals in their care tested positive for COVID-19; how the animals in their care were affected indirectly by COVID-19; if they sought and received any government assistance to keep them operational; …

Watery Grave: One Of The Death Care Industry’S Greenest Options Is Still Illegal In Thirty-One States And That Needs To Change, Jacob Steele

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Alkaline hydrolysis is an eco-friendly cremation alternative that uses water, a gentle chemical solution, and heat to break down bodies instead of fire. It has a carbon footprint that is 75% less than that of standard cremation and eliminates the possibility of soil and groundwater pollution created by traditional burials. The problem is that it is illegal and unavailable to citizens in at least 31 states. This comment examines the history, process, and legality of alkaline hydrolysis while proposing the rapid federal or mass state legalization of the method as a solution to many of the problems the death care …

Assumption Of Risk In Consumer Contracts And The Distraction Of Unconscionability, Zahra Takhshid

Cardozo Law Review

For years, courts have struggled to determine when to enforce exculpatory clauses that would prevent personal injury victims from availing themselves of tort remedies under the doctrine of express assumption of risk. In the past, when courts declined to enforce these clauses, they did so on the ground that enforcing such a waiver for the activities in question was “against public policy.” Recently, however, many courts have addressed the issue through the contract doctrine of “unconscionability.” This change in focus has subtly but importantly altered the enforceability inquiry by emphasizing the conditions under which the plaintiff agreed to the contract, …

Law School News: Rwu Law Acquires Top Marine Law Journal 08-19-2021, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Admiralty, John P. Kavanagh Jr.

Mercer Law Review

The cases discussed herein represent decisions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, as well as district courts within the Circuit, issued in 2020. While not an all-inclusive list of maritime decisions during that timeframe, the Author identified and provided summaries of key rulings of interest to the maritime practitioner.

Understanding The North Atlantic Right Whale Litigation, Gabrielle Benjamin, Read Porter

Sea Grant Law Fellow Publications

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Competition & Conflict Along The River Nile: The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam & Shifting Customary International Water Law, Salma Shitia

Fordham Environmental Law Review

Decade-long negotiations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia surround the decision to build the hydroelectric power plant along the River Nile. For much of Ethiopia, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam represents a beacon of prosperity. For countless Egyptians, the structure embodies a potential catastrophe. Grounded in threats of displacement for Egyptian agricultural communities, some have compared the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis to disasters culminating in mass migration.

This battle for natural resource access has intensified as climate change exacerbates the region’s dire conditions. Specifically, exhaustible resource allocation amid climate change indicates that …

A Paper Tiger? Prosecutorial Regulators In China’S Civil Environmental Public Interest Litigations, Chunyan Ding, Huina Xiao

Fordham Environmental Law Review

In July 2015, China’s national legislature brought in prosecutor-led civil environmental public interest litigation (“EPIL”) for thirteen selected provincial areas of the country. After a two-year legal experiment, this prosecutor-led civil EPIL system was then established nationwide in July 2017. Yet, can it be said that prosecutorial regulators in China are in fact a paper tiger? Drawing upon content analysis of the 655 prosecutor-led civil EPILs and in-depth interviews with twelve frontline prosecutors and judges, this article examines the dynamics of regulatory practice and the motivation of the Chinese prosecutorial organs to engage in environmental regulation through litigation. Based upon …

The Yoga Analogy: Scaling-Up The U.S.’S Renewable Energy Sector Mindfully With New Technologies, Evolving Standards, Public Buy-In, Data Sharing, And Innovation Clusters, Kimberly E. Diamond

Fordham Environmental Law Review

This paper focuses on innovative renewable energy devices, exploring how scientifically-based industry standards that continuously evolve with engineering design technology, the public’s buy-in and feeling of connectedness with groundbreaking devices, and innovation clusters that accelerate device development through data sharing and public-private partnerships can all help advance the U.S.’s domestic renewable energy industry.

Part I analyzes challenges inherent to scaling- up novel renewable energy technologies while simultaneously developing the industry standards regulating them. Part II uses the Block Island Wind Farm, an offshore wind demonstration project, and Pavegen’s globally-deployed arrays of piezoelectric smart flooring tiles as examples illustrating the importance …

Environmental Racism: Using Environmental Planning To Lift People Out Of Poverty, And Re-Shape The Effects Of Climate Change & Pollution In Communities Of Color,, William C.C. Kemp-Neal

Fordham Environmental Law Review

In the mid-1900s the United States began to see a rise in concern for environmental awareness issues. In the early days the movement focused on things like clean air, water and pollution but by the 1970s-1990s many prominent environmental awareness groups began to form focused on the idea that in order to avert climate change the principal goal needed to be to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. In 1987 a report was released called Toxic Waste and Race, which outlined an intimate link between the placement of environmental hazardous waste sites in communities of color, and greater instances of polluted …

Beyond Equity: Shared Natural Resources And Human Rights, Criminal Law, And The Use Of Force, Eian Katz

Fordham Environmental Law Review

Transboundary resource disputes are often analyzed by reference to two nebulous and conflicting principles that have emerged in international environmental law: “equitable and reasonable utilization” and “no significant harm.” Frequently overlooked in this context is the potential value of other canons of international law—especially human rights law, criminal law, and the rules governing the use of force—in adding definition to the muddled contours of these foundational precepts. This Article therefore undertakes an assessment of sovereign rights and obligations regarding shared natural resources which arise from these other bodies of law. In doing so, it offers new lenses through which to …