The marine environment is almost ideal for the preservation of artefacts and, until relatively recently, it also provided complete protection from destruction by man. However, the aqualung has made most shallow underwater sites accessible, leading to widespread plundering. Current deep-sea bed technology now threatens deep water sites. There is a need for immediate international action to preserve the man-made environment, alongside the natural one. The enunciation of legal rules to protect the underwater cultural heritage is a complex issue, involving a matrix of interests and laws, both international and national.

The marine environment is almost ideal for the preservation of artefacts and, until relatively recently, it also provided complete protection from destruction by man. However, the aqualung has made most shallow underwater sites accessible, leading to widespread plundering. Current deep-sea bed technology now threatens deep water sites. There is a need for immediate international action to preserve the man-made environment, alongside the natural one. The enunciation of legal rules to protect the underwater cultural heritage is a complex issue, involving a matrix of interests and laws, both international and national.

The 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage represents a major step forward in the field of international law. New archaeological rules as well as a comprehensive co-operation system among the States concerned are set up by the new Convention. Despite the negative attitude assumed by few States at the moment of voting for the text of the Convention, this new international instrument is welcome by the great majority of States. This volume focuses on the main aspects of the Convention. It is divided in two parts, to describe the situation before and after the adoption (and the forthcoming into force) of the Convention. In the first part the contradictions resulting from the regime established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea are analysed together with the undesirable results of the application of the rules of admiralty (law of salvage and law of finds) to the underwater cultural heritage. In the second part the negotiation process is described, both in its general aspects (the myths surrounding the draft) and in its specific results (the drafting of each single provision).

The legal protection of the underwater cultural heritage is a field in which there is growing international interest. Shipwrecks and other underwater cultural remains in every maritime zone are threatened both by activities ‘directed at’ them, such as treasure hunting, and by activities ‘incidentally affecting’ them, such as mineral exploration and exploitation, pipeline and cable-laying, dredging, and fishing. Since the first edition of this collection (published in 1999), the urgent need for an international legal framework to regulate these activities has been formally recognised by the adoption in 2001 of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. While the prospects for this Convention remain uncertain, it will undoubtedly have a profound influence on national laws and practice in this field. This second collection of essays examines the present state of law, policy and practice in sixteen different jurisdictions around the world in light of the 2001 Convention. Among other things, the viewpoint of each jurisdiction in respect of the Convention is considered and the impact that the Convention is already having, and is likely to have in the future, is explored. Eight of the essays are entirely new, and several additional jurisdictions are covered (Finland, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway). The other essays have been thoroughly updated and revised to take account of the Convention. The contributors come from a variety of backgrounds, but all have specialist knowledge and experience of their particular jurisdiction and a keen interest in the field.

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Law of the Sea analyzes Vietnam's policies on the law of the sea in relation to the country's overall foreign policy goals and its position at the center of the South China Sea geostrategic region. It examines Vietnam's claims in zones of maritime jurisdiction and its regulation of maritime activities in the context of the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea and against the backdrop of Vietnam's security interests, economic development, and regional leadership goals. The author explores Vietnam's maritime boundary disputes with its Southeast Asian neighbors and China and assesses their impact on regional stability. This is the first comprehensive study to trace the evolution of Vietnamese policy and participation in law of the sea development from the 1958 First U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea to the present. The book provides the background essential to an understanding of Vietnam's current maritime relations and of the challenge to incorporate Vietnam into a stable regional order. Law of the sea specialists, Southeast Asia area specialists, and those interested in the development of Vietnam's hydrocarbon and fishery resources will find this a particularly valuable resource.

The Law of the Sea Convention has now reached 25 years of presence in the international scene as a constitution for the oceans. It was the product of a long and arduous negotiation with a final product of delicate balance. The purpose of this book is to examine whether the basic premises and essential compromises of the Convention still hold true or whether the Convention, as a living instrument, has evolved into accommodating new needs and challenges to its regulatory scheme. The vehicle chosen is the jurisdictional interplay between the States, as flag States, coastal States and port States, and the world community at large in matters relating to navigation, fisheries, access to the biological resources of the deep seabed or even maritime security. The result confirms the solid foundations of the Convention and its ability to evolve and expand without upsetting its essential balance. A book useful to all those interested in the law of the sea and the structure of international law.

The first full-scale study of the international legal framework governing underwater cultural heritage to be published in nearly two decades.

** Winner of the ABILA (American Branch of the International Law Association) Book of the Year Award for a Book on Practical or Technical Subject. ** In this book James Nafziger covers emerging topics of cultural heritage law, a relatively new landmark in the field of both national and international law. His primary focus is on the frontiers identified and developed by the numerous work products of the International Law Association's Committee on Cultural Heritage Law, expanded and updated by some of his own writings. The construction of cultural heritage law is a good example of transnationalism at work, combining national initiatives with diplomacy, UNESCO and other intergovernmental agreements, international custom, and non-governmental initiatives such as the ILA committee's own contributions. These have included published studies, annotated principles and resolutions, draft treaties and a book focused on national practices in the international trade of cultural material. This volume concludes by briefly exploring current and future frontiers of a burgeoning range of topics that are central to many people's daily experiences and interests. This book was awarded the ABILA (American Branch of the International Law Association) Book of the Year Award for a Book on a Practical or Technical Subject, in 2022.

International law has long been dominated by the State. But it has become apparent that this bias is unrealistic and untenable in the contemporary world as the rise of the notion of common goods challenges this dominance. These common goods – typically values (like human rights, rule of law, etc) or common domains (the environment, cultural heritage, space, etc) – speak to an emergent international community beyond the society of States and the attendant rights and obligations of non-State actors. This book details how three key areas of international law – human rights, culture and the environment – are pushing the boundaries in this field. Each category is of current and ongoing significance in legal and public discourse, as illustrated by the Syrian conflict (human rights and international humanitarian law), the destruction of mausoleums and manuscripts in Mali (cultural heritage), and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (the environment). Each exemplifies the need to move beyond a State-focused idea of international law. This timely volume explores how the idea of common goods, in which rights and obligations extend to individuals, groups and the international community, offers one such avenue and reflects on its transformative impact on international law.