Law Of The Sea Environmental Law And Settlement Of Disputes

This volume covers a variety of topics in the fields of the law of the sea and the protection of the environment.

This volume covers a variety of topics in the fields of the law of the sea and the protection of the environment. The particular focus of the volume is on the role and function of judicial, quasi-judicial and administrative institutions in the prevention and settlement of disputes in both of these areas. This includes an overview and insightful analysis of the cases of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea during its first decade. Further substantive issues range from the allocation of shared marine resources, maritime boundary delimitation and issues of maritime security to the prevention of marine pollution as well as a coverage of the compliance and enforcement mechanisms of international environmental law. The views from both scholars' and practitioners' perspectives presented in this volume will offer readers a number of outstanding intellectual synergies to reflect on the development of international law. It can provide both scholars and policy-makers alike with new insights on how to address pressing problems in international law, including ideas for improved institutional design. The work has been compiled in honour of Thomas A. Mensah and comprises 59 essays from leading scholars and practitioners in international law.

Over the last two decades, environmental problems have been increasingly identified as potential sources of international instability or even direct threats to international peace and security. This phenomenon has been reflected in the growing proportion of multilateral environmental treaties which include dispute settlement clauses. At the same time, and increasingly since the beginning of the 1990s, international adjudication is going through a renaissance as more and more cases are submitted to an expanding number of international judicial fora. This unique study takes a pragmatic approach to determine under which conditions international adjudication, as currently structured, can effectively tackle the challenge of environmental degradation and the ensuing international disputes. It illustrates how multilateral environmental treaties have provided for the settlement of disputes that may arise from their implementation, with special attention given to so-called non-compliance procedures. Ten environmental disputes which have been the subject of international adjudication are examined in detail, explaining the origins of the dispute, how and why the case was brought before that particular jurisdiction, the proceedings, the judgement, and the aftermath of the case. To assess the effectiveness of adjudicative means, famous cases are revisited, including the Bering Sea Fur Seals, Trail Smelter, Lake Lanoux, Nauru Phosphates, Nuclear Tests, Danube, Meuse River, and Southern Bluefin Tuna cases, and the impact the judgements had on the original environmental problems examined.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea follows a comprehensive approach and can be interpreted dynamically to include the regulation of all potential human uses of the ocean, but the law of the sea cannot be viewed in isolation from other fields of international law. International law does not resemble a hierarchically structured legal system; its different parts interact when different rules address the same activity or situation. The academic discussion concerning the specialization and proliferation of international legal rules and dispute settlement bodies has theoretical as well as practical relevance for the law of the sea and its interaction with other parts of international law. The intensified use of the oceans for different purposes and the ongoing proliferation of international rules addressing different activities from different perspectives and with distinct foci require a more thorough evaluation of how the law of the sea relates to other fields of international law, how the normative context can be approached theoretically and if interdisciplinary interfaces can be adequately addressed. This book discusses the normative context of the law of the sea and the interactions of the law of the sea with other legal regimes. By connecting high-quality research with new ideas and perspectives, this book offers expertise from different fields and perspectives in which the interaction between the law of the sea and other fields of international law becomes particularly relevant.

The dispute settlement regime in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has been in operation for well over twenty years with a steadily increasing number of important cases. This significant body of case law has meaningfully contributed to the development of the so-called 'constitution of the oceans'. Judging the Law of the Sea focusses on how Judges interpret and apply UNCLOS and it explores how these cases are shaping the law of the sea. The role of the Judge is central to this book's analysis. The authors consider the role of UNCLOS Judges by engaging in an intensive study of the their decisions to date and assessing how those decisions have influenced and will continue to influence the law of the sea in the future. As the case law under UNCLOS is less extensive than some other areas of compulsory jurisdiction like trade and investment, the phenomenon of dispute settlement under UNCLOS is under-studied by comparison. Cases have not only refined the parameters for the exercise of compulsory jurisdiction under the Convention, but also contributed to the interpretation and application of substantive rights and obligations in the law of the sea. In relation to jurisdiction, there is important guidance on what disputes are likely to be subjected to binding third-party dispute resolution, which is a critical consideration for a treaty attracting almost 170 parties. Judging the Law of the Sea brings together an analysis of all the case law to the present day while acknowledging the complex factors that are inherent to the judicial decision-making process. It also engages with the diverse facets that continue to influence the process: who the Judges are, what they do, and what their roles might or should be. To capture the complex decision matrix, the authors explore the possible application of stakeholder identification theory to explain who and what counts in the decision-making process.

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Dispute Resolution in the Law of International Watercourses and the Law of the Sea offers novel comparative analysis from leading experts on the resolution of disputes concerning international watercourses and the oceans.

International law governing the settlement of disputes through law-based forums, such as courts, tribunals and arbitral tribunals, is fraught with limitations that are becoming especially apparent with respect to disputes that involve the protection of the environment. However despite the deficiencies of the law, international courts and tribunals have issued judgements in disputes involving the protection of the environment. At the global level the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) have handed down decisions in relevant cases. In addition other legal forums can also be called upon to decide cases involving international environmental law. Such forums include the Environmental Chamber of the ICJ and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) under its general facilities and under the Environmental Facility that it is planning to establish. Similarly, special bodies, such as the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), may decide on cases. Moreover, regional forums such as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Community (ECJ) have ruled on cases involving international environmental law. Despite these developments, calls for the establishment of an international environmental court at the global level persist. Several arguments have been advanced to justify the establishment of an international environmental court, for example the very many pressing environmental problems that exist today and the need for a bench consisting of experts in international environmental law to consider theseproblems, the need for individuals and groups to have access to environmental justice at the international level, the need to enable international organizations to be parties to disputes related to the protection of the environment and the need for dispute settlement procedures that enable the common interest in the environment to be addressed. Arguments against the establishment of an international environmental court have been advanced as well. These arguments include the following: the proliferation of international courts and tribunals would result in the fragmentation of international law, existing courts and tribunals are, or can be, well equipped to consider cases involving environmental issues and disputes involving international environmental law also involve other aspects of international law. This publication explores the arguments for and against the establishment of an international environmental court, examining topics such as the definition of an international environmental dispute and the concomitant expertise required on the bench, fragmentation and its root causes, access to justice and the representation of community interests. The author argues that the establishment of an international environmental court is not the most desirable option and she suggests that it might be more fruitful if we consider developments in environmental law, as well as in other relevant areas of international law, from a different perspective, namely, that of administrative law and reassess the relationship between international and national law. Such an approach, she argues is warranted if, "inter alia," viable means for resolving environmental disputes that may arise are to be identified.

These collected essays reflect the development of the author’s views as well as the evolution of the law of the sea itself since the beginning of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.