"The UNCLOS has been called a constitution for the oceans and is critically important today in a world rocked by climate change and biodiversity loss, and where deep seabed resources are potentially of vital strategic importance. It is absolutely crucial to find new ways to manage the common heritage of mankind, while navigating the priorities and expectations of those who depend on the oceans. Equally, peace at sea is made possible by the UNCLOS. Koh discusses current threats to maritime security. He explains the intricacies of the disputes in the South China Sea and the success of maritime boundary conciliation between Australia and Timor-Leste. What can be learned from the success of UNCLOS? How can we build on that success, and manage the new tensions that arise in the Law of the Sea?"--Page 4 de la couverture.

Legal Order in the World's Oceans: UN Convention on the Law of the Seaassesses the impact of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and many aspects and challenges of modern law of the sea. The theme was selected in part to celebrate that this conference was the Center for Oceans Law and Policy's 40th Annual Conference and in part to emphasize the seminal contribution to the Rule of Law from UNCLOS in building legal order in the world's oceans. The comprehensive scope of this inquiry is presented in six parts. The topics are: Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea at the United Nations; the Area and the International Seabed Authority; the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and Dispute Settlement; the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf; Sustainable Fisheries, including the UN Fish Stocks Agreement; and Operational Implementation--Maritime Compliance and Enforcement.

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.

Transnational Legal Orders offers an empirically grounded approach to the emergence of legal orders beyond nation-states that reframes the study of law and society.

This book investigates competing constructions of areas beyond national jurisdiction, and their role in the creation and articulations of legal principles, providing a broader perspective on the ongoing negotiation at the UN on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.

This book project evaluates the applicability and effectiveness of UNCLOS as a settlement mechanism for addressing ocean disputes. Focus is placed on the South China Sea (SCS) dispute, one of the most complex and challenging ocean-related conflicts in the world. The book considers the internal coherence of the Law of the Sea Convention regime and its dispute settlement procedures. It looks at the participation in the UNCLOS negotiation, maritime legislation, and dispute settlement practice of relevant States party to the dispute. The book goes on to explore the relationship between UNCLOS and other regimes and institutions in general in the SCS, particularly in regard to maritime security, marine environment protection, oil and gas joint development and political interaction.

This compendium of documents brings together, for the first time in an affordable format, the essential documents needed to gain a thorough knowledge of the laws of the sea. There has been a long felt need for such a collection to provide students, scholars and practitioners with a working library of the key materials. This collection integrates documents of the International Maritime Organisation (which are not available anywhere on the web in consolidated form), of regional fisheries organizations, security related documents, treaties concerning resource exploitation, environmental protection measures and much more, into the framework created by the Law of the Sea Convention. The book is aimed at teachers and practitioners in the area and can be used as a class room companion for law of the sea courses.

The ocean and its inhabitants sketch and stretch our understandings of law in unexpected ways. Inspired by the blue turn in the social sciences and humanities, Blue Legalities explores how regulatory frameworks and governmental infrastructures are made, reworked, and contested in the oceans. Its interdisciplinary contributors analyze topics that range from militarization and Maori cosmologies to island building in the South China Sea and underwater robotics. Throughout, Blue Legalities illuminates the vast and unusual challenges associated with regulating the turbulent materialities and lives of the sea. Offering much more than an analysis of legal frameworks, the chapters in this volume show how the more-than-human ocean is central to the construction of terrestrial institutions and modes of governance. By thinking with the more-than-human ocean, Blue Legalities questions what we think we know—and what we don’t know—about oceans, our earthly planet, and ourselves. Contributors. Stacy Alaimo, Amy Braun, Irus Braverman, Holly Jean Buck, Jennifer L. Gaynor, Stefan Helmreich, Elizabeth R. Johnson, Stephanie Jones, Zsofia Korosy, Berit Kristoffersen, Jessica Lehman, Astrida Neimanis, Susan Reid, Alison Rieser, Katherine G. Sammler, Astrid Schrader, Kristen L. Shake, Phil Steinberg

This textbook provides the reader with a foundation in policy development and analysis and describes how policy, including legal mechanisms, is applied to marine environments around the world. It offers a systematic treatment of all aspects of marine policy, including environmental protection, fisheries, transportation, energy, mining and climate change. It starts with a biophysical overview of the structure and function of the marine environment with a particular emphasis on the challenges and opportunities of managing the marine environment. An overview of the creation and function of international law is then provided with a focus on international marine law. It explores the geographic and jurisdictional dimensions of marine policy, as well the current and anticipated challenges facing marine systems, including climate change-related impacts and resource over-exploitation. The book should appeal to senior undergraduate and graduate students and form a core part of the curriculum for marine affairs, science and policy courses. It will also provide supplementary reading for students taking a course in the law of the oceans, but is not aimed at legal specialists.