The Implications Of The Concept Of Equity In The New Law Of The Sea

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2006 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: B+, University of Dar es Salaam (Faculty of Law), course: Law of the Sea, language: English, abstract: Equity as a legal concept is a direct emanation of the idea of justice. It was however a long time, before this understanding broke way in municipal law, let alone that it became accepted by a majority in Public International Law, as the lawyers [in England] had a maxim that they would tolerate a ‘mischief’ [a failure of substantial justice in a particular case] rather than an ‘inconvenience’ [a breach of legal principle]. The parties to the case were however mostly not satisfied with such ‘inconvenience’ resulting from the ‘hard nosed’ municipal Common Law and started to seek redress from a higher authority — in this case the King of England. This (royal) remedy is based on the concept of ‘Equity,’ which — as understood in this paper — was applied to correct unjust outcomes and referred to considerations of fairness, and reasonableness. Eventually, the foremost municipal concept of Equity found entry into international jurisprudence. However, mostly civil law countries — whose approach towards Equity was and is more reluctant — were challenging this understanding, arguing that the Court “should work on the basis of existing rights,” in Public International Law a distinction of different ‘Equities’ was developed. As will be shown, the usage of some of these ‘Equities’ is highly controversial, whereas others are today nearly commonly accepted as part of today’s Public International Law.

This volume of the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law (NYIL) addresses the question how the assumption that states have a common obligation to achieve a collective public good can be reconciled with the fact that the 195 states of today’s world are highly diverse and increasingly unequal in terms of size, population, politics, economy, culture, climate and historical development. The idea of common but differentiated responsibilities is on paper the perfect bridge between the factual inequality and formal equality of states. The acknowledgement that states can have common but still different – more or less onerous – obligations is predicated on the moral and legal concept of global solidarity. This book encompasses general contributions on the function and the content of the related principles, chapters that describe and evaluate how the principles work in a specific area of international law and chapters that address their efficiency and broader ramifications, in terms of compliance, free-rider behaviour and shifting balances of power. The originality of the book resides in the integration of conceptual, comparative and practical dimensions of the principles of global solidarity and common but differentiated responsibilities. The book is therefore highly recommended reading for both academics with a theoretical interest and those working within international organisations. The Netherlands Yearbook of International Law was first published in 1970. It offers a forum for the publication of scholarly articles in a varying thematic area of public international law.

This book provides a systematic and comprehensive study of the legal concept of equity as it operates in contemporary international law. A principle with a long pedigree, equity has been present in legal thought and in municipal legal systems since antiquity. Introduced in international legal decisions through claims commissions and arbitral tribunals, equity became progressively part and parcel of the international law mainstream. From international cultural heritage law to the law on climate change, from maritime boundary delimitations to decisions on security for costs in investment arbitration, the relevance of equity is more far-reaching than has previously been acknowledged. In contrast with earlier studies on the topic, this book is informed by a body of judicial and arbitral case law that has never been so substantial and varied. It also draws extensively on the prolific case law of investment tribunals, gaining insights from a valuable source that is typically overlooked in public international law scholarship. As the importance of international law increases, covering continuously new domains, the value of equity increases with it. It is this new equity in the international law of the 21st century that this book explores.

Analysing the role of equity in international law, the book offers a detailed case study on maritime boundary delimitation in the context of the enclosure movement in the law of the sea.

New Knowledge and Changing Circumstances in the Law of the Sea focuses on the challenges posed to the existing legal framework, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the various ways in which States are addressing these challenges.

'A study of the law on coastal jurisdiction as it has emerged in Latin America and its impact on present and future law'

This wholly new edition of the Handbook provides an authoritative examination of international law relating to the protection of the marine environment. Chapters critically engage with current legal issues surrounding activities that harm the marine environment, including marine pollution, seabed activities, exploitation of marine biodiversity and climate change, and with the different legal tools and mechanisms, including environmental impact assessments and compliance and dispute settlement mechanisms, used to protect the marine environment. New chapters also address legal issues relating to the role of technology and marine scientific research as well as the application of principles such as public participation. This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.