The Centre for International Law (CIL) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the K.G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea (JCLOS) at the University of Tromsø are hosting in Singapore a Conference on the Governance of Arctic Shipping. The objective of the Conference is to examine major legal issues relating to shipping in the Arctic and the role of Arctic States, user States and international organisations in Arctic shipping governance. The event occurs from 9 to 11 December and more information is available here.
Conference: Global Problems, Legal Solutions
The 2015 International Law Weekend, entitled Global Problems, Legal Solutions: Challenges for Contemporary International Lawyers, will be held at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York at 42 West 44th Street (November 5th), and at the Fordham Law School, Lincoln Center (November 6-7, 2015). A number of panels are focused on the law of the sea, ‘Towards a New Implementing Agreement Under UNCLOS on Marine Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction’; ‘Arctic Ocean Stewardship’ and ‘Rising Seas, Baselines Issues: The Work of the International Law Association Baselines and Sea Level Rise Committee’.
Please consult the draft program. More information and registration can be found here.
Filed under Events
Conference: The EU as a Global Actor in the Arctic
The K.G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea is presenting a workshop entitled ‘The EU as a Global Actor in the Arctic’. The event will occur on 26 October 2015 in Tromsø. It aims at discussing emerging legal issues concerning the current European regulatory framework in the Arctic. More information can be found here.
Filed under Events
Seminar: Arctic Shipping and Safety – Legal Challenges and Opportunities, 6-7 October 2015
A seminar entitled Arctic Shipping and Safety – Legal Challenges and Opportunities, will be held by the Royal Danish Naval Academy in Copenhagen (Denmark) from 6 – 7 October 2015. Note attendance fees are applicable; students (DKK 150) professionals (DKK 350). For more information see here.
Filed under Events
New Zealand: Kermadec ocean sanctuary announced
The Prime Minister of New Zealand (John Key) has announced at the UN General Assembly the creation of a ‘Kermadec ocean sanctuary’ which will extend out to 200nm in the region. Domestic legislation is to be passed next year, according to the New Zealand government, and the sanctuary ‘will create a no-take, fully-protected zone preventing all fishing and mining in the area’.
More information available here, and an governmental overview here.
Filed under State Practice
Conference: Extraterritoriality in Port State Jurisdiction
The editors of this blog proudly present an event of their own making. A conference entitled “Extraterritoriality in Port state Jurisdiction” will be held at Utrecht University, in the Netherlands, on December the 14th. The event is organized under the research project UNIJURIS which focuses on unilateralism and the protection of global values within public international law. The program of the event can be found here.
Filed under Events
World Maritime Day 2015
Today is the World Maritime Day 2015, dedicated to the theme “Maritime education and training”.
As we can learn from the UN website, the theme was adopted to focus attention on the wider spectrum of maritime education and training, in particular its adequacy and quality, as the bedrock of a safe and secure shipping industry, which needs to preserve the quality, practical skills and competence of qualified human resources, in order to ensure its sustainability.
The IMO is holding a symposium on “Shipping’s future needs people: Is global maritime education and training on course?” Speakers from the shipping and maritime industry and academia will address three sessions, covering (1) Opportunities for the young generation in the maritime industry (2) Seafaring as a profession and (3) Developing seafarer skills through quality maritime education and training. More information on this event can be found here.
Filed under International Organizations
Conference: Governance of the Adriatic and Ionian Marine Space
The University of Macerata in Italy is holding a conference on the Governance of the Adriatic and Ionian Marine Space (La governance dello spazio marino adriatico-ionico). The event is presented in Italian and occurs on November 12-13, 2015. More information on the program and the venue can be found here.
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Conference: Maritime Areas, Control and Prevention of Illegal Traffics at Sea
The Human Sea European research project is presenting a conference in Nantes, 5-6 October 2015. The topic of this event is illegal activities at sea and state competencies. Presentations will focus on a wide range of issues: piracy and robbery, trafficking in human beings, clandestine immigration, drug trafficking, illegal fishing… The abstracts and more information on the registration and venue can be found here.
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Conference: Smart Mixes in relation to Fisheries and Oil Pollution
The University of Amsterdam is hosting a two-day event on fisheries and oil pollution on 7-8 October, 2015. The initiative is organized within the framework of the research project ‘Smart Mixes in relation to Transboundary Environmental Harm’. The objective is to provide insight into how alternative modes of regulation and different forms of regulatory instruments can complement the traditional approach of regulation through international agreements. More information about the event can be found here.
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Conference(s): Danish Maritime Days
Danish Maritime Days is an annual event within Denmark, which this year will be held from the 5-6 October with a number of events of interest for those concerned with maritime regulation. The focus for events is the Copenhagen region and an overview can be found here.
Filed under Events
Black Sea MOU: New Inspection Regime from 2016
At the 16th meeting of the Port State Control Committee in Batumi, Georgia, April 2015, the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Black Sea Region decided to introduce a New Inspection Regime for selection of ships from 1st January 2016 to harmonize further its risk based targeting and inspection system with the leading memorandas, namely Paris MOU and Tokyo MOU, to the highest level. More information is available in their press release. An information sheet on the upcoming developments has also been made available.
Filed under International Organizations
Conference: Operational Maritime Law
The Centre of Excellence Operations In Confined and Shallow Waters is organizing its 3rd Conference on Operational Maritime Law. The event is to occur in Lisbon, Portugal, at the Instituto de Estudos Superiores Militares, between the 21 and 24 of September. The topic of this year’s event will be “There and Back Again: From Origins to Modern Threats”. The event will include presentations/discussions on Law of Armed Conflict, Unmanned Underwater Vehicles, The Mining of International Straits, Maritime Law Disputes on the Horizon, and Freedom of Navigation. Additionally, there will be legal workshops on Rescue and Assistance at Sea and Law Enforcement on the High Seas. You can find the invitation here and the agenda here. Registration is open until September the 4th subject to prior registration here.
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Conference: Future-Ready Shipping 2015
An International Conference on Maritime Technology Transfer and Capacity-Building is to occur in Singapore on 28 to 29 September 2015. The conference, named “Future-Ready Shipping 2015” is co-organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and the IMO and it will gather maritime leaders to discuss ways forward in encouraging the uptake of energy-efficient ship technologies. The programme of the event can be found here. Registration and further information is available here.
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PCA: Arctic Sunrise Arbitration (Netherlands v. Russia) Award on the Merits
The Permanent Court of Arbitration has delivered a unanimous Award dated 14 August 2015, in which it affirmed jurisdiction and found Russia had breached its obligations owed to the Netherlands as the flag State under Articles 56(2), 58(1), 58(2), 87(1)(a), and 92(1) of UNCLOS. Furthermore, in failing to comply with previous provisional measures proscribed by ITLOS, Russia breached its obligations to the Netherlands under Articles 290(6) and 296(1). Finally a failure to pay the deposits requested by the Tribunal in these proceedings, was a breach of Russia’s obligations under Part XV and Article 300.
An overview of the case can be found here. For a summary of the award see here, and the full award here.
Filed under Jurisprudence
ITLOS: the “Enrica Lexie” Incident (Italy v. India) Order delivered
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea delivered its Order in The “Enrica Lexie” Incident (Italy v. India), Provisional Measures case. The operative provisions prescribe, pending a decision by the Annex VII arbitral tribunal, the following provisional measures under article 290, paragraph 5, of the Convention:
Italy and India shall both suspend all court proceedings and shall refrain from initiating new ones which might aggravate or extend the dispute submitted to the Annex VII arbitral tribunal or might jeopardize or prejudice the carrying out of any decision which the arbitral tribunal may render;
Italy and India shall each submit to the Tribunal the initial report referred to in paragraph 138 not later than 24 September 2015, and authorizes the President, after that date, to request such information from the Parties as he may consider appropriate;
Both prescriptions were adopted by a majority of 15 to 6. The full text of the Order can be found here.
Filed under Jurisprudence
CLCS Submission: Partially revised submission by the Russian Federation
The Russian Federation has submitted its revised information on the outer limits of its continental shelf beyond 200nm, in respect of the Arctic Ocean (2nd August, 2015). The submission was made in accordance with UNCLOS, art. 76(8) and is in respect to an area previously covered in the first Submission of the Russian Federation (December 2001), considered at the 11th session of the Commission from 24 to 28 June 2002.
See the submission page and Notification. For more information, see the Russian Federation Executive Summary.
Filed under International Organizations
ITLOS: the “Enrica Lexie” Incident (Italy v. India)
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has been requested by Italy to prescribe provisional measures under article 290, paragraph 5, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in a dispute with the Republic of India over the incident involving the MV Enrica Lexie, an oil tanker flying the Italian flag. By Order dated 24 July 2015, the President of the Tribunal, Judge Vladimir Golitsyn, fixed 10 August 2015 as the date for the opening of the public hearing in the case. More information can be found on the press release.
Filed under Jurisprudence
Call for Papers: The Sino–Latin American Law of the Sea Symposium
The Xiamen University South China Sea Institute is holding the Sino-Latin American Symposium on the Law of the Sea. The topic of this event is “Challenges and Opportunities with Development and Utilization of Marine Resources” with a special focus on the contributions of China and Latin American countries to the modern international law of the sea. The call for papers can be found here. The event is to happen in Xiamen, China, on November 5-6, 2015. More information can be found here.
Filed under Calls
European Commission: international ocean governance public consultation
The European Commission is holding an ongoing public consultation (4th June – 15th September 2015), aimed at gathering stakeholder input into ‘how the EU could contribute to achieving better international governance of oceans and seas to the benefit of sustainable blue growth‘. The results will be combined with other sources to ‘develop a more coherent, comprehensive and effective EU policy on improving the international ocean governance framework’.
For an overview see the brochure. For further information and to participate see here.
Filed under International Organizations, State Practice
High-level Workshop: CFP: The External Dimension as a Driver for Change, Sustainable Fisheries & Regional Cooperation
The Long-Distance Advisory Council (LDAC) shall host a high-level workshop entitled ‘CFP: The External Dimension as a Driver for Change: Sustainable Fisheries & Regional Cooperation‘ in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, from 16-17th September 2015.
For more information see their website here, and registration here.
Filed under Events
Symposium: International Legal Aspects of Countering Piracy
Celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, and the establishment in 2015 of the Antonio Cassese Initiative Foundation in the Netherlands, the Asser Instituut (The Hague) shall host; Asser 50 years – Public International Law Symposium “International Legal Aspects of Countering Piracy”. The event will taker place on the 15 October, 2015, from 09.00 – 17.15 hrs (followed by a reception).
More information can be found here, along with registration here.
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UN: Zero Draft of Post 2015 Development Agenda Released
The Zero draft of the outcome document for the UN Summit to adopt the Post-2015 Development Agenda, has been released ahead of the United Nations Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda which will be held 25-27th September 2015, New York. Of note for those interested in the law of the sea is the proposed sustainable development goal 14.
The document may be found here.
Filed under International Organizations
Conference: Work at Sea, New Maritime Legal Scenarios
The Universidade de Vigo, together with two other Spanish universities (A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela), are organizing a conference entitled “Work at Sea – New Maritime Legal Scenarios”. The event takes place in Vigo, Spain, 2-3 june. The program and the venue are available here.
Filed under Events
Conference: Challenges in the New Ocean Order: A Legal Perspective
An international conference entitled “challenges in the new ocean order: a legal perspective” is set to happen in Lisbon during Portugal’s 2015 Blue Week. The event occurs 4 June at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa (Parque das Nações). More information on the whole event can be found here and here. The program of the conference is available here.
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Conference: Chagos Litigation: A Socio-Legal Dialogue
The University of Greenwich will host The Chagos Litigation: A Socio-Legal Dialogue Conference, on the 29th June 2015. The schedule and reservation information can be found here. Places are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
Those interested in attending, may also wish to attend the Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context New Book Series: The Chagos Islanders and International Law. The book discussion will be hosted by Queen Mary University (London), on the 27th May 2015. More information here.
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Lecture: Oil and Gas in the Marine Arctic, The Rights and Responsibilities of States and Peoples
The T.M.C. Asser Instituut will host a lecture entitled, Oil and Gas in the Marine Arctic: the Rights and Responsibilities of States and Peoples, by Prof. Rachael Lorna Johnstone, University of Akureyri, Iceland on the 26 May, 2015 at 15:00-17:00.
More information, and registration details may be found on the website here, and flyer here.
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Training School: Law of the Sea and Development
The University of A Coruña will host a training school entitled, Law of the Sea and Development, from 1-3rd July 2015, at the NAUTIC AULA of the University of A Coruña, Spain. The application deadline is the 12th June and a number of scholarships are available under the MARSAFENET COST Action.
For more information, including fees and application procedure see here.
Filed under Courses
Summer School: European Union and the Law of the Sea
The summer school on European Union and the Law of the Sea (EULoS) will be held for three consecutive years, alternatively, in Italy and Germany. The venue for 2015 will be the town of Imperia, where the event will take place from 31 August – 11 September 2015. Additional information, including an outline programme, can be found at http://eu-los.eu.
Filed under Courses
Lecture Tour: The South China Sea, Perspectives from Law and History
Filed under Events
IMO: Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks enters into force
The Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, adopted on the 18th May 2007, entered into force on Tuesday 14th April 2015. According to the IMO the 20 current State parties represent 32.9% of the world’s tonnage.
The convention can be found here, along with a summary by the IMO here.
Filed under Treaties
ITLOS: Ghana/Côte d’Ivoire provisional measures prescribed
The Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has unanimously prescribed provisional measures under article 290(1) of UNCLOS in the case, Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean (Ghana/Côte d’Ivoire).
The Order of the 25 April can be found here, along with the Separate Opinion of Judge ad hoc Mensah here. For a summary, refer to the Press Release here.
Filed under Jurisprudence
PCA: The Republic of the Philippines v. The People’s Republic of China fourth procedural order issued
The Arbitral Tribunal in the case submitted by the Republic of the Philippines against the People’s Republic of China under Annex VII to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has issued its fourth Procedural Order, deciding to conduct a hearing in July 2015 on the Arbitral Tribunal’s jurisdiction. More information is available in the PCA’s press release.
Filed under Jurisprudence
ITLOS: Ghana/Côte D’ivoire Order announced
The Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, established to deal with the dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean will deliver its Order in the provisional measures phase of the case on Saturday, 25 April 2015. Judge Boualem Bouguetaia, President of the Special Chamber, will read the Order at a public sitting which will be held at 3 p.m. More information available in the ITLOS press release.
Filed under Jurisprudence
Call for papers: ShipArc 2015
The International Maritime Organization (IMO), World Maritime University (WMU) and the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) working group of the Arctic Council have announced a call for papers for a joint International Conference on Safe and Sustainable Shipping in a Changing Arctic Environment (ShipArc 2015), to be held from 25 to 27 August 2015 at WMU in Malmö, Sweden. Papers under all themes will inform and enrich the conference discussions. The abstract submission deadline is 31 May 2015 and more information can be found here.
Filed under Calls
ITLOS: Case No. 21 Advisory Opinion in response to request from the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC)
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has on the 2nd April 2015 given its advisory opinion in Case No. 21, Request for an advisory opinion submitted by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC). The questions referred to the Tribunal were “1. What are the obligations of the flag State in cases where illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities are conducted within the Exclusive Economic Zones of third party States? 2. To what extent shall the flag State be held liable for IUU fishing activities conducted by vessels sailing under its flag? 3. Where a fishing license is issued to a vessel within the framework of an international agreement with the flag State or with an international agency, shall the State or international agency be held liable for the violation of the fisheries legislation of the coastal State by the vessel in question? 4. What are the rights and obligations of the coastal State in ensuring the sustainable management of shared stocks and stocks of common interest, especially the small pelagic species and tuna?”.
The advisory opinion can be found here, along with a summary press release.
Availing themselves of the right conferred under article 125(2), of the Rules of the Tribunal, two declarations were appended: Declaration of Judge Wolfrum and Declaration of Judge Cot.
Exercising the right conferred by article 30(3), of the Statute of the Tribunal, three separate opinions were given: Separate opinion of Judge Ndiaye; Separate opinion of Judge Lucky, and Separate opinion of Judge Paik.
Filed under Jurisprudence
ITLOS: 9th Nippon Foundation Programme on Dispute Settlement
Filed under Vacancies
Call for papers: The Chagos Litigation, A Socio-Legal Dialogue
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
Forthcoming World Oceans Day 2015: Global events of interest plus call for further events
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
Conference: Maritime Security and Offshore Activities
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
PCA Award: Chagos Marine Protected Area Arbitration (Mauritius v. United Kingdom)
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
Conference: Interspill Amsterdam 2015
The Interspill Conference is happening in Amsterdam this year, between 24 and 26 March. It will be held at Amsterdam RAI Convention Centre, the Netherlands, and is co-organised by Reed Exhibitions and Interspill Ltd. The conference will be hosted by the Spill Response Group Holland (SRGH). The event includes an exhibition and focuses on the changing landscape of spill preparedness and response; it also focuses on how activities continue to move into more challenging environments and on how public sensitivities to perceived spill risks has increased. The program of the conference is available here. Registration can be done here.
Republic of the Philippines supplemental submission to the Arbitral Tribunal (Philippines/China)
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
Conference: 2015 ILA-ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum
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
Marco Polo — Zheng He Academy of International Oceans Law and Policy
The South China Sea Institute, Xiamen University, and the Centre for Polar and Deep Ocean Development, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, are organizing the 10th session of the Marco Polo — Zheng He Academy of International Oceans Law and Policy. This year’s session happens between 6 and 31 July in Xiamen and Shanghai, China. You can check the brochure by clicking in the image below.
Training School: Settling Maritime Legal Disputes
MARSAFENET is organising a training school that will address specific subjects mainly relating to maritime delimitation and environmental protection. Attention will be paid to the settlement of maritime disputes including ITLOS and ICJ jurisprudence and arbitration procedures. It happens at Sarajevo on 5-7 May 2015 and the submission deadline is 30 March 2015. The call can be found here.
Filed under Courses
Côte d’Ivoire seeks provisional measures in maritime boundary dispute (Ghana/Côte d’Ivoire)
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
Rhodes Academy 2015
The twentieth session of the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy will be held July 5-25, 2015. The deadline to submit applications is May 1, 2015. The Rhodes Academy general information booklet, 2015 program brochure, and 2015 schedule are available here.
Filed under Courses
Call for Papers: Brazilian Journal of International Law
The first 2015 edition of the Brazilian Journal of International Law (Revista de Direito Internacional) will be devoted to the Law of the Sea and Maritime Law. Following the interest of Brazil in the so-called “Blue Amazon”, this call for papers envisages a broad range of submissions that deal with these topics. The announcement can be found here (in Portuguese only) and the instructions for the online submissions can be found here (also in English). The deadline for the submission of articles is April 30.
Filed under Calls
Conference: International Marine Economy, Law and Policy
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