The Legal Order Of The Oceans

"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 principal aim of this book is to address the international legal questions arising from the 'right of visit on the high seas' in the twenty-first century. This right is considered the most significant exception to the fundamental principle of the freedom of the high seas (the freedom, in peacetime, to remain free of interference by ships of another flag). It is this freedom that has been challenged by a recent significant increase in interceptions to counter the threats of international terrorism and WMD proliferation, or to suppress transnational organised crime at sea, particularly the trafficking of narcotics and smuggling of migrants. The author questions whether the principle of non-interference has been so significantly curtailed as to have lost its relevance in the contemporary legal order of the oceans. The book begins with an historical and theoretical examination of the framework underlying interception. This historical survey informs the remainder of the work, which then looks at the legal framework of the right of visit, contemporary challenges to the traditional right, interference on the high seas for the maintenance of international peace and security, interferences to maintain the 'bon usage' of the oceans (navigation and fishing), piracy j'ure gentium'and current counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia, the problems posed by illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, interdiction operations to counter drug and people trafficking, and recent interception operations in the Mediterranean Sea organised by FRONTEX.

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.

Legal Order in the World’s Oceans: UN Convention on the Law of the Sea assesses the impact of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and many aspects and challenges of modern law of the sea.

In this volume, leading scholars and jurists in ocean law provide perspectives on the past record of legal change together with analyses of a wide range of institutional and legal innovation that are needed to meet current challenges.