The University of Greenwich will host a one day conference entitled The Chagos Litigation: A Socio-Legal Dialogue, on the 29th June 2015 at the Queen Anne Building, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, UK. The deadline for submission of abstracts, which should be 200-300 words, is the 17th April 2015. Professor Philippe Sands QC will deliver the keynote speech.
More information can be found here.
Filed under Calls
World Oceans Day on June 8th has been recognized by the United Nations since 2008. Those wishing to hold a conference or event can register online, here.
The schedule of all currently registered events can be found here. Of particular note to those interested in law of the sea is the Marine Protected Areas and the Law of the Sea Workshop, hosted by ISRIM and the University of Applied Sciences, Bremerhaven.
Filed under Events
The conference, Maritime Security and Offshore Activities: Legal Aspects, hosted by ISRIM, in cooperation with MARSAFENET and IMLI will be held on the 12 June 2015 at the Chambers of Commerce, Bremen.
More information and registration details can be found here.
Filed under Events
The arbitration proceedings concerning the establishment of a marine protected area by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island around the Chagos Archipelago (April 2010) has concluded with an award in relation to Mauritius’ claim that the MPA declaration was incompatible with the United Kingdom’s UNCLOS obligations. The claims related to the status of the UK/Mauritius as the coastal state were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Judge James Kateka and Judge Rüdiger Wolfrum issued a dissenting and concurrent opinion which touched upon this question, and the principles of decolonization and self-determination.
For an overview see the press release. For more information see the full Award of the Arbitral Tribunal, and the dissenting and concurrent opinion of Kateka and Wolfrum.
Filed under Jurisprudence
In the arbitration proceedings, The Republic of the Philippines v. The People’s Republic of China, The Republic of the Philippines have conveyed a further 12 volumes of supplementary submissions totaling over 3,000 pages. This is in response to the 26 questions submitted by the Arbitral Tribunal to the Philippines.
For more information on the submission see the Statement of the Department of Foreign Affairs (Philippines). Further information on the arbitration proceedings can be found here.
Filed under Jurisprudence
Hosted by the Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law, in partnership with the ASIL Law in the Pacific Rim Region Interest Group, the 2015 ILA-ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum will be held 25th-26th May 2015, in Taipei, Taiwan. The theme is Integrating the Asia-Pacific: Why International Law Matters. Panels relevant for the law of the sea include B1 (Law of the Sea: Maritime Disputes) and A2 (Law of the Sea: South China Sea).
For more information and registration see here. A preliminary programme is available here.
Filed under Events
Côte d’Ivoire has submitted a request under UNCLOS article 290(1) to the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea formed to deal with the Ghana/Côte d’Ivoire maritime boundary dispute (Case No. 23).
For full details of the provisional measures requested see here.
Filed under Jurisprudence
The 39th Virginia Annual Conference, co-organized by the Center for Oceans Law and Policy, University of Virginia School of Law and Center for Polar and Deep Ocean Development, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, will be held in Shanghai, China from 24-26th June 2015.
For a draft programme, and more information see here.
Filed under Events
The International Foundation for the Law of the Sea (IFLOS) is organizing a one-day conference as part of its ‘Maritime Talks’ series, entitled Arctic Issues with a Special Focus on Shipping and the Polar Code. The event will be held on the 14th March at The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), Hamburg.
For more information on registration fees, procedures and confirmed speakers see here.
Filed under Events
The Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of the FAO, and The Fisheries Administration (FiA) of Cambodia, will host a conference entitled Tenure & Fishing Rights 2015 A global forum on rights-based approaches for fisheries. It will be held between 23 – 27 March 2015, at the Apsara Angkor Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia. UserRights 2015 seeks participation and contribution from the widest variety of stakeholders with an interest in tenure in fisheries and sustainable natural resource use in general and fisheries in particular. The UserRights 2015 forum will provide its participants with a holistic understanding of the concept of rights-based approaches for fisheries needed for advancing and improving the basis for generating practical, constructive guidance for all stakeholders involved.
For more information see here, along with registration and a draft programme.
Filed under Events
The Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group to study issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction, has concluded its final meeting (20-23 January 2015) by adopting a number of recommendations to the UN General Assembly. Of particular note the UN General Assembly should “[d]ecide to develop an international legally-binding instrument under the Convention on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction”.
For more information see the Working Group and its recommendations.
Filed under International Organizations
The K.G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea (JCLOS) is arranging a PhD student summer course entitled ‘methodology and legal science within the international Law of the sea’. It will be held at Sommarøya (Summer Island), Norway, from the 4 – 5 June 2015.
For more information, see here.
Filed under Courses
The Centre for Maritime Research (MARE) will host the 8th People and Sea Conference in Amsterdam on the 24-26 June 2015. The theme shall be ‘Geopolitics of the Oceans’. Participants can propose the presentation of papers, posters and other visual materials. The deadline for submissions is January 31st, 2015. More information and submission forms can be found here.
Filed under Events
The Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law (NIEM) has opened a call for papers. Applicants are to submit an abstract on the topic of “new challenges facing the arctic ocean and other fragile seas”(max. 500 words) and a brief CV (max 1 page), by January 15, 2015. The resulting conference is to happen on February 20, 2015 at the Rovaniemi, Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland. For further details, consult the call for papers. The program of the Conference will be posted here.
The University of Southern Denmark will be holding a conference entitled, Maritime Piracy: Remaining legal challenges and lessons learned. Where are we in 2014 and where are we heading? The event will occur on December 8-9, 2014. Templates, submission forms and further information can be found here.
The National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth will convene a conference entitled, Statesman and Seapower, 17 – 18 April 2015. The call for papers closes 28th November 2014.
More information, and submission procedures here.
Filed under Calls
Judge Golitsyn (Russian Federation) was elected as President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and Judge Bouguetaia (Algeria) as Vice-President for the period 2014–2017 by the members of the Tribunal. (press release).
In further news: Mr Alonso Gómez-Robledo Verduzco (Mexico) and Mr Tomas Heidar (Iceland) were sworn in as members of the Tribunal. The two judges were elected at the twenty-fourth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to serve a term of nine years, commencing on 1 October 2014. (press release).
Filed under International Organizations
The 69th United Nations General Assembly convened on the 16th September 2014, with the General Debate being held 24-30th September 2014 (UN Coverage). The opening of the General Debate on the 24th September marked the beginning of the intergovernmental negotiations on the future Sustainable Development Goals – which will expand on their predecessor: the Millennium Development Goals. The basis for negotiations, the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals Outcome Document, currently includes:
Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
For further coverage, please follow the IISD Reporting Services.
Filed under International Organizations
The Federal Republic of Somalia has instituted proceedings against the Republic of Kenya before the International Court of Justice with regard to “a dispute concerning maritime delimitation in the Indian Ocean”. (Somalia Application).
In its Application, which is accompanied by three sketch-maps, Somalia contends that both States “disagree about the location of the maritime boundary in the area where their maritime entitlements overlap”, and asserts that “[d]iplomatic negotiations, in which their respective views have been fully exchanged, have failed to resolve this disagreement”. (ICJ Press Release).
The Somali Government requested the ICJ to establish a single maritime boundary between Somalia and Kenya in the Indian Ocean delimiting the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf, including the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. (Somalia Ministry Foreign Affairs Press Release).
Filed under Jurisprudence
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea held its tenth regional workshop on 8 August 2014 in Nairobi, Kenya, on ‘The role of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in the settlement of disputes relating to the law of the sea in Eastern and Southern Africa’. The workshop was organized in cooperation with the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) and with the assistance of Kenyan authorities. More information available in the ITLOS press release.
Filed under Events, International Organizations
On 13-14 November 2014, Ghent University (UGent) will be hosting an international two-day conference at the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The conference, organized in partnership with the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Université catholique de Louvain – Mons (UCL-Mons) and the Université libre de Bruxelles, will pause at the success of the Montego Bay Convention in governing the use of the oceans. At the same time, it will look ahead and examine to what extent the Convention is properly equipped to withstand the various challenges ahead, including, for instance, competing territorial and maritime claims in the South and East China Seas and in the Arctic, the fight against piracy, future exploitation of the deep sea bed, ocean pollution, the increased recourse to the UNCLOS dispute settlement regime, etc. More information here. Registration and conference programme are available here.
Filed under Events
In its Award dated 7 July 2014, the Permanent Court unanimously decided that it has jurisdiction to identify the land boundary terminus and to delimit the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone, and the continental shelf between the Parties within and beyond two hundred nautical miles in the areas where the claims of the Parties overlap. The Tribunal was also unanimous in identifying the location of the land boundary terminus between Bangladesh and India and in determining the course of the maritime boundary in the territorial sea. By a majority of four votes to one, the Tribunal determined the course of the maritime boundary line between Bangladesh and India in the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles (press release). You can read the full Award from the PCA here as well as the separate concurring and dissenting opinion to the Award of judge Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao.
Bangladesh-India Delimitation (p.163, Award)
Filed under Jurisprudence
Further commitments by states at the Our Ocean Conference (16-17th June) to ratify the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSM Agreement), will bring the PSM Agreement closer to entry into force – with nearly half the required number of parties. A Presidential Memorandum by US President Barack Obama, demonstrated continued commitment to seek congressional ratification of the PSM Agreement. As reported by the US Department of State, several states have made, or are shortly forthcoming, commitments to expanded marine protected areas (MPA) within the Pacific Ocean. This includes commitments by the Cook Islands, Bahamas and Palau – with a total area covered at approximately 3 million square kilometers. Should the announced USA Pacific Ocean MPA be formally adopted, it will replace the New Caledonia Coral Sea Nature Park as the World’s largest MPA. More information on this conference (attended by approximately 400 government officials, marine experts and conservation organizations from 80 countries) to be found here.
Filed under State Practice
In an effort to highlight the role of the oceans, and thus the importance of the Law of the Sea, the 8th June marked this year’s World Oceans Day. The celebration of World Oceans Day 2014 coincides with the first day of the twenty-fourth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention. On this occasion, some important statements have been produced:
World Oceans Day has been marked since 2009, having been established by General Assembly Resolution 63/111, para. 171.
Filed under International Organizations
The foreign policy communiqué of the Group of 7 (G7), published 4th June 2014, covers an item of particular interest to the law of the sea:
Maritime Navigation and Aviation
16. We reaffirm the importance of maintaining a maritime order based upon the universally-agreed principles of international law. We remain committed to international cooperation to combat piracy and other maritime crime, consistent with international law and internationally recognised principles of jurisdiction in international waters. We are deeply concerned by tensions in the East and South China Sea. We oppose any unilateral attempt by any party to assert its territorial or maritime claims through the use of intimidation, coercion or force. We call on all parties to clarify and pursue their territorial and maritime claims in accordance with international law. We support the rights of claimants to seek peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, including through legal dispute settlement mechanisms. We also support confidence-building measures. We underscore the importance of the freedom of navigation and overflight and also the effective management of civil air traffic based on international law and International Civil Aviation Organization standards and practices.
It is available here.
Filed under State Practice
After twenty years of negotiations, the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of the Republic Indonesia concerning the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone boundary has been successfully signed. The Agreement was met with support by the European Union. Further information on this achievement is provided by the Philippines Government here.
The PH-RI EEZ Boundary is defined by geodetic lines connecting eight points. These points are indicated in geographical coordinates that form a single line as illustrated in the chart shown below. The total length of the line is 627.51 nautical miles or 1,162.2 kilometers from points 1 to 8.
Filed under Treaties
The World’s largest Marine Protected Area has been created in French New Caledonia. First announced in August 2012, the strategic analysis has been finally concluded and led to the formal adoption of a marine protected area covering nearly 1.3 million square kilometers. For more information see the French Agence des aires marines protégées, and its press release.
Perimeter of the Coral Sea natural park in French New Caledonia. © Agence des aires marines protégées
Filed under State Practice
The ESIL Interest Group on Migration and Refugee Law, together with the Centre for Migration Law of the Radboud University Nijmegen and the Amsterdam Center for International Law of the University of Amsterdam have announced a panel discussion on Mediterranean migration by sea.
See the program and panelists for more information.
Date: 16th May 2014.
Location: Radboud University Nijmegen – CPO-zaal, Spinozagebouw, Montessorilaan 3, Nijmegen.
Registration: online.
Filed under Events
De Maribus 