Law of the Sea Commons^™

National Legal Models To Regulate Scrubbers Washwater, Shams Al Din Al Hajjaji

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

According to the findings of this study, nations should adopt uniform regulations regarding the discharge of washwater from exhaust gas cleaning systems into their ports, territories, and Exclusive Economic Zones. Scrubbers are used by ships to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases so they can adhere to the International Maritime Organization’s limit on the sulfur content of ship fuel. The global upper limit was 0.5% in January 2020. Scrubber washwater is discharged into the ocean by ships. Toxic substances are present in the washwater for the scrubbers. The level of washwater for the scrubbers is governed by the 2008 and …

Law Enforcement Measures Against Chinese Maritime Militia, Kentaro Furuya

International Law Studies

This article undertakes a comprehensive legal assessment of Chinese maritime militia vessels and their operations, employing a law enforcement perspective as the analytical lens. During peacetime, those vessels engage in fishing and low-intensity military activities but during armed conflict they transition to tasks like reconnaissance. Notably, these maritime militias are frequently deployed in what is commonly termed as "gray zone" scenarios, which lack a clearly defined designation as either peacetime or armed conflict. Their principal objective lies in asserting territorial claims without resorting to full-scale armed conflict. This article delves into an exploration of the legal status accorded to these …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

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.

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 …

Maritime Collision Regulations As A Structure For Space Travel, Swathi Paruchuru

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The exploration of space via manned and unmanned missions has been almost constant since the mid-20th century. With developing technology and the advent of private actors in space travel, the emerging problem of space traffic requires some form of guidelines in order to prevent collisions and continue the peaceful use of space. Space Traffic Management is an emerging field with new theories still being posited. This Note examines the ways in which maritime Collision Regulations (COLREGs) can be used as a guideline to create infrastructure for the control of traffic in space, regarding both satellites and general space debris. This …

Falling Stars And Sinking Ships: How Article Vii Of The Outer Space Treaty Needs Maritime Law, Mckenzie Franck

Pace International Law Review

The urge to go where no man has gone before has led to great leaps in space technology that only seemed real in cinema. As more private companies, such as private asteroid mining companies in China, attempt to take this leap, it has become clear that there are significant gaps in international space law regarding liability with private parties. Within Article VII of the Outer Space Treaty, there is a laid-out structure on how states can be held liable for damages caused by celestial bodies. However, the Outer Space Treaty ignores what happens if a private company causes injuries in …

Natuna Waters: Explaining A Flashpoint Between Indonesia And China, Damos Dumoli Agusman

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Abstract

The Natuna waters have recently been a flashpoint between China and Indonesia as a result of China's vague claim of a nine dash line (9DL). It has caused a number of incidents and standoffs between legal enforcement agencies of both countries and sparked a diplomatic row.

This article explores how the ambiguous claim of a historic right/9DL was gradually introduced by China and then coercively applied in the Natuna waters. It also attempts to identify what China actually claims in the waters. It will then examine how Indonesia under the Jokowi administration responds to the claims, and elaborate what …

Indonesian Compliance With Tripartite Agreement In Controlling Marine Environmental Pollution In The Malacca Strait, Vita Cita Emia Tarigan, Akmal Handi Ansari Nasution, Mohammad Ekaputra, Rizki Nanda Saputri

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Indonesia bears interest in the Malacca strait as one of its stakeholders in its effort on maritime navigational safety and environment in navigational safety and environment. Its efforts are fundamental in controlling, preventing, and recovering pollution from vessels. Referring to the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, Indonesian contribution to controlling marine life pollution is vital. Therefore, Indonesia signed a tripartite agreement with Malaysia and Singapore (Agreement on Safety of Navigation in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore 1977). The Tripartite Agreement needs to be used as a reference in making regulations in Indonesia and implemented …

Impact Of The Enforcement Of Asean Economic Community On Policy And Strategy Of Sea Transportation Development In Indonesia, Aflah Aflah, Hasim Purba, Suhaidi Suhaidi, Mahmul Siregar

Indonesian Journal of International Law

This study aimed to determine the impact of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) on the national shipping industry highly imbalanced with relevant business policies. The AEC agreement is also expected to positively affect the shipping industry while controlling domestic and competing in international activities. In this study, a normative method was used, with the collection of data carried out through literature studies. The Maritime Vision of Indonesia, which is the Policy Direction and Strategy for The Development of Marine Transportation, was also implemented to motivate the country toward becoming the World Maritime Axis. This emphasized becoming a developed, sovereign, independent, …

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 …

Prioritizing Regional Wildlife Conservation By Rejuvenating The Western Hemisphere Convention On Nature Protection, Shade Streeter, David Hunter, William Snape Iii

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Last year, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (“CBD”), representing nearly every nation, signed a milestone agreement committing, among other things, to conserve thirty percent of Earth’s lands and oceans to stave off the rapid diminution of the planet’s biodiversity. Implementing these global commitments will require not only strong domestic measures, but also enhanced regional cooperation targeting the conservation of the region’s migratory wildlife and shared resources. Although the United States is the sole major holdout from the CBD, it can still reassert its leadership in regional wildlife conservation by rejuvenating the Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation …

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 …

The Great Climate Migration: A Critique Of Global Legal Standards Of Climate-Change Caused Harm, Mariah Stephens

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Approximately 2.4 billion people, or about forty percent of the global population, live within sixty miles (one hundred kilometers) of a coastline. The United Nations (“U.N.”) determined that “a sea level rise of half a meter could displace 1.2 million people from low-lying islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with that number almost doubling if the sea level rises by two metres.” The U.N. also reports that “sudden weather-related hazards” have internally displaced an annual average of 21.5 million people since 2008. Within the next few decades, this number is likely to continue to increase. …

The Future Of Crypto-Asset Mining: The Inflation Reduction Act And The Need For Uniform Federal Regulation, Liz Guinan

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Crypto-asset mining is energy-intensive and environmentally harmful, presenting challenges and opportunities for federal, state and local governments, regulators, and society as a whole. As of December 2021, the United States has thirty-eight percent of the global crypto network hash rate, which is the total amount of computational power used to mine and process crypto transactions, making the United States the world’s largest crypto-asset mining industry. The total electricity consumption of crypto-asset mining in the United States is estimated to be around 121.36 terawatt-hours (“TWh”) per year, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of approximately 10.9 million households in the …

Editors' Note, Rachel Keylon, Meghen Sullivan

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

For more than two decades, the Sustainable Development Law and Policy Brief (“SDLP”) has published works analyzing emerging legal and policy issues within the fields of environmental, energy, sustainable development, and natural resources law. SDLP has also prioritized making space for law students in the conversation. We are honored to continue this tradition in Volume XXIII.

Anatomy Of China’S Maritime Strategy: Threatening The Maritime Order Through Its National Legislation And Self-Centered Interpretation Of Unclos, Shigeki Sakamoto

International Law Studies

While the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) establishes an objective framework for the coordinated handling of the use of the sea by States in the exercise of their legislative, judicial, and executive powers, China’s legislative bodies, in enacting domestic laws for the fulfillment of treaty obligations, distort obligations in its domestic laws to secure their own national interests. For example, Article 6.2 of China’s Territorial Sea Law violates articles of UNCLOS by denying the right of innocent passage. In addition, China is extending its jurisdiction over security to the contiguous zone with Article 13 …

Maritime Security Governance: Indonesia, Malaysia, And Singapore’S Approach Towards The Proliferation Security Initiative, Sumathy Permal

International Law Studies

Maritime security governance of a strategic strait is a unique exercise that presents formidable complexity for States bordering the strait. These waterways often have choke points the proper management of which is critical for the safe passage of commercial and military vessels. The focus of this article is on the Straits of Malacca (SOM) as a strategic maritime passage that is subject to multiple interests involving governance, military, and commercial aspects. This article seeks to examine maritime security governance approaches by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore towards the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).

The littoral States bordering the SOM bear the responsibility …

A Fraying Patchwork Quilt: International Law And Plastic Pollution, Dr. Gerry Nagtzaam

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Indo-Pacific Conflicts Will Be Reimagined In Outer Space Exploration, Michael Incorvaia

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

This article will focus on the effects of international treaties and how they can be utilized to govern the future of outer space exploration. The discussion will include evaluating how modern changes in technology have created a need for updated outer space-specific treaties to ensure that outer space does not become a contentious zone between countries. This article will begin by exploring the developments in outer space that have created a new space race. Then, it will discuss the Indo-Pacific conflict and why the current multilateral treaty strategy that is used in the region will not be effective in outer …