This books offers a comprehensive and innovative picture of the Community's implementation of its international obligations in the field of the marine environment, looking at the participation of the EC and its member states in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other relevant agreements.
The oceans cover more than seventy per cent of the surface of the planet and they provide many vital ecosystem services. However, the health of the world's oceans has been deteriorating over the past decades and the protection of the marine environment has emerged as one of the most pressing legal and political challenges for the international community. An effective solution depends upon the cooperation of all states towards achieving agreed objectives. This book provides a critical assessment of the role that international law plays in this process, by explaining and evaluating the various legal instruments that have been negotiated in this area, as well as key trends in global ocean governance. Starting with a detailed analysis of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the book considers the main treaties and other legal texts that seeks to prevent, reduce, and control damage to the marine environment caused by navigation, seabed exploitation, fishing, dumping, and land-based activities, as well as emerging pressures such as ocean noise and climate change. The book demonstrates how international institutions have expanded their mandates to address a broader range of marine environmental issues, beyond basic problems of pollution control to include the conservation of marine biological diversity and an ecosystems approach to regulation. It also discusses the development of diverse regulatory tools to address anthropogenic impacts on the marine environment and the extent to which states have adopted a precautionary approach in different maritime sectors. Whilst many advances have been made in these matters, this book highlights the need for greater coordination between international institutions, as well as the desirability of developing stronger enforcement mechanisms for international environmental rules.
This book offers a comprehensive international law analysis of the European Union’s maritime safety legislation. This is a relatively novel field of activity of the EU, but its development has been very rapid. Since 1993, over 40 acts of EU law have been adopted, dealing with a variety of subjects, such as port State control, classification societies, vessel traffic management, ship construction, environmental protection and pollution sanctions. This legislation is analysed from the point of international law, notably the law of the sea and the international maritime conventions. Regional legislation in a field that is traditionally regulated primarily by means of international conventions is bound to create tensions with the related international conventions and with well-established principles of international law. This study assesses how the EU has acted as a flag State, port State and coastal State and measures the trends in this development against the international legal framework. More detailed legal analyses are offered for specific aspects of EU legislation that are considered to be particularly interesting from an international law point of view. The relationship between EU law and international law within the internal EU legal system is also analysed from the specific perspective of maritime safety law.
In Regional Co-operation and Protection of the Marine Environment Under International Law: The Black Sea, Nilufer Oral examines the regional co-operation mechanism for protection and preservation of the Black Sea marine environment within the framework of international law, and subsequently identifies the necessary components for a robust regional regime based on best legal practices. The book provides a thorough review of the complex modern challenges related to the Black Sea, with particular emphasis on biodiversity, fisheries, land-based pollution and vessel-based sources of pollution. A history of regional co-operation in the Black Sea offers an enlightening comparison to the development of regional co-operation in international law, in particular, to Part IX of the 1982 United Nations (Montego Bay) Convention on the Law of the Sea. Further comparative analyses, such as the existing regional regime of the Black Sea as established under the 1992 UNEP Regional Seas Programme, and selected regional seas programmes, including the acquis communautaire of the European Union, cohere into a firm foundation of present findings, upon which basis the author makes recommendations for the future. All those interested in the Law of the Sea, international environmental law, and fisheries management will find a critical new text in Regional Co-operation and Protection of the Marine Environment Under International Law: The Black Sea.
Characterizing the seabed : a geoscience perspective / Alvar Braathen and Harald Brekke -- Deep-sea ecosystems : biodiversity and anthropogenic impacts / Eva Ramirez-Llodra -- A short human history of the ocean floor / Håkon With Andersen -- Setting maritime limits and boundaries : experiences from Norway / Harald Brekke -- The seabed in the high north : how to address conflicts? / Alexander S. Skaridov -- Current human impact on Antarctic seabed environment and international law / Y.E. Brazovskaya and G.F. Ruchkina -- Commercial mining activities in the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction : the international legal framework / Joanna Dingwall -- Framework legislation for commercial activities in the area / Erik Røsæg -- Maritime security and deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction / Edwin Egede -- The rights to genetic resources beyond national jurisdiction : challenges for the ongoing negotiations at the United Nations / Tullio Scovazzi -- Marine genetic resources : a practical legal approach to stimulate research, conservation and benefit sharing / Morten Walløe Tvedt -- Deep-sea bottom fisheries and the protection of seabed ecosystems : problems, progress and prospects / Richard Caddell -- Review of national legislations applicable to seabed mineral resources exploitation / Saul Roux and Catherine Horsfield -- European Union law and the seabed / Finn Arnesen, Rosa Greaves, and Alla Pozdnakova -- China's domestic law on the exploration and development of resources in deep seabed areas / Chelsea Zhaoxi Chen -- Implementation of article 82 of the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea : the challenge for Canada / Aldo Chircop -- The use of sub-seabed transboundary geological formations for the disposal of carbon dioxide / Nigel Bankes -- Decommissioning of offshore installations : a fragmented and ineffective international regulatory framework / Seline Trevisanut -- Re-using (nearly) depleted oil and gas fields in the North Sea for CO2 storage : seizing or missing a window of opportunity? / Martha M. Roggenkamp -- International investment law and the regulation of the seabed / James Harrison -- Navigating legal barriers to mortgaging energy installations at sea : the case of the North Sea and the Netherlands / Jaap J.A. Waverijn -- Crossing the sectoral divide : modern environmental law tools for addressing conflicting uses on the seabed / Rosemary Rayfuse -- Commercial arrangements and liability for crossing pipelines, power cables and telecom cables (connectors) on the seabed / Lars Olav Askheim -- Balancing competing interests when building marine energy infrastructures : the case of the nord stream pipelines / David Langlet -- Liability and compensation for activities in the area / Kristoffer Svendsen.
This textbook on the law of the sea sets the subject in the context of public international law. It comprehensively covers the principal topics of the course, from the legal regimes governing the different jurisdictional zones, to international co-operation for protection of the marine environment and marine living resources.
This volume deals with institutions, implementation and innovations in the field of international marine environmental law. It discusses some controversial legal aspects of the marine environment in the context of UNCLOS, as a framework for national, regional and global action in the marine sector. The purpose of this work is to faithfully report scientific expertise, legal insight and policy wisdom presented by the speakers and participants at the Conference. The book identifies major aspects of the current situation and possible future developments in a critical way. Among the key issues covered are implementation and enforcement of environmental conventions; the avoidance, prevention and settlement of disputes; and, liability and compensation for environmental damage. Also included are several articles which discuss the role of the main institutions in this field within the UN system. This volume is based on contributions made at the International Conference on Marine Environmental Law (ICMEL), held by the GAUSS Institute in Bremen, Germany. There is a companion website, specially created to work alongside the texts. A selected bibliography, documents, conventions and links connected to the contents of the book are included to provide an updated and comprehensive resource for the reader: www.andreekirchner.de/imel
"This book explores recent contributions of the case-law of international courts and tribunals to the development of international law. It begins by looking at how such case-law has contributed to the development of the methodology of international law and to the development of procedural rules. It further examines recent contributions from three major players in the international judicial arena: the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the mechanisms for Investor-State Dispute Settlement"--
Marine Mammal Conservation and the Law of the Sea lays out and critiques the marine mammal regulatory landscape. It introduces the rational conservation model, and details the modern threats to marine mammals, including climate change, by-catch, environmental pollution, ship strikes. Next, it discusses options for reform under UNCLOS and existing treaties, and finally introduces a new holistic treaty regime based on the rational conversation model, based in part on the UN Fish Stocks Agreement.
