The World Bank, in partnership with the University of Melbourne Law School, the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations, the International Seabed Authority, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the Center for Maritime and Oceanic Law at the University of Nantes shall host an Ocean Governance Capacity Building Training Program, tailored in 2024 for the Latin America and the Caribbean Region, with a mandatory e-learning course in early 2024 followed by live sessions scheduled for 6-23 May 2024. Applications are welcome until 11 February 2024. The training program will take place in both English and Spanish and an information webinar will take place on 6 February 2024 (link in the call for applications). For more information see here.
Monthly Archives: December 2023
USA: Announcement of Extended Continental Shelf Outer Limits
On 19 December 2023 the US released the geographic coordinates defining the outer limits of the U.S. continental shelf in areas beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast, which, according to the USA, are determined “in accordance with customary international law, as reflected in the relevant provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the Scientific and Technical Guidelines of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf”. The Executive Summary (2023) provides further details. Overlapping claims with the extended continental shelf areas of Canada, The Bahamas, and Japan require delimitation. Relevant delimitation agreements have been reached with Cuba, Mexico, and Russia, on which see the related announcement on 18 December 2023, whereby the President transmitted to the Senate for consideration the 2017 Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of Cuba on the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 Nautical Miles and the 2017 Treaty between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Mexican States on the Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico (both not yet in force; not yet public but will be accessible here). For further information see the dedicate webpage on the US extended continental shelf claim.
Filed under State Practice, Treaties
Vacancies: legal officer at ITLOS
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has opened the following vacancy: Legal Officer (P-3). Application deadline is 22 January 2024. More information is available here.
Filed under Vacancies
CJEU: order in Case T-600/22 (ST v European Border and Coast Guard Agency)
On 28 November 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (General Court) issued an order in Case T-600/22 (ST v European Border and Coast Guard Agency), addressing allegations of unlawful inaction by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) in the context of asylum rights and regulatory procedures (Article 46(4), Regulation (EU) 2019/1896). The applicant, ST, sought a declaration of Frontex’s failure to act or, alternatively, the annulment of Frontex’s decision refusing to suspend or terminate activities in the Aegean Sea. The dispute arose from an NGO’s invitation to Frontex, representing an anonymous individual and seeking action regarding Frontex’s Aegean Sea activities. However, the Court found the action inadmissible on the grounds that ST failed to demonstrate being the anonymous person behind the pre-litigation invitation, and lacked a vested, present interest in the annulment of Frontex’s decision. The Court dismissed the action entirely, citing ST’s inability to prove identity and establish the decision’s direct impact on his situation. The order can be read here.
Filed under Jurisprudence
Vacancies: postdoc at the University of Southern Denmark
Deadline for applications is 2 January 2024 for a postdoctoral researcher position at the Department of Law, University of Southern Denmark. The selected candidate will be a part of an interdisciplinary group of researchers all connected to the research project “SDU Maritime Research Platform (MRP)”, and deal with legal and regulatory aspects including particularly aspects of how the maritime industry is active in the co-creation of rules and other legal frameworks relevant to it. Further information is available here.
Courses: United Nations Regional Course in International Law for Latin America and the Caribbean (2024)
The application process for the 2024 United Nations Regional Course in International Law for Latin America and the Caribbean is now open. The deadline for applications is 22 December 2023. The course is organized in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Chile and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). It is open to candidates from the Member States of the United Nations that are members of the Latin American and Caribbean Group. The course will be held at the facilities of ECLAC in Santiago, from 16 May to 7 June 2024. The curriculum will include seminars on topics of particular interest to the region, including law of the sea. Further information in the brochure and application form.
Filed under Courses
Competitions: Rhodes Academy – ICPC Submarine Cables Writing Award 2024
The NUS Centre for International Law is inviting submissions of original papers to be considered for the Rhodes Academy – International Cable Protection Committee Submarine Cables Writing Award 2024 (RA-ICPC Award 2024). The Award, sponsored by International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) and in collaboration with the Rhodes Academy, aims at promoting research on issues relating to submarine cables and their relationship with the law of the sea. The author of the winning paper will receive either (i) a full scholarship to attend the Rhodes Academy 2024 or (ii) a cash award for Rhodes Academy Graduates from a prior year. Deadline for submissions is 23 April 2024. For details on paper requirements, procedure for submission and awards, please see here.
Filed under Competitions
Russia: revised submission to the CLCS in the area of the Gakkel Ridge (Arctic Ocean)
On 30 October 2023, the Russian Federation submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), in accordance with UNCLOS Article 76, paragraph 8, and with reference to its Submission of 20 December 2001, and of it Partial Revised submission of 3 August 2015 (with addenda submitted on 31 March 2021) in respect of the Arctic Ocean, information on the limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of its territorial sea is measured in the area of the Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean. On 6 February 2023, CLCS had approved the Recommendations of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in Regard to the Partial Revised Submission Made by The Russian Federation in respect of the Arctic Ocean on 3 August 2015 with Addenda Submitted on 31 March 2021. The purpose of this new submission is to establish the outer limits of the continental shelf (OLCS) of the Russian Federation in the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean in the area of the Gakkel Ridge, the Nansen and Amundsen basins.
Filed under International Organizations, State Practice
De Maribus 