Search: UNCLOS
27 Oct China’s Weak Legal Basis for Criticizing the US Navy’s Freedom of Navigation Operations in the South China Sea
FIFTH-COLUMN Well well well. Nice work. Prof Ku suggested the US might have chosen to downplay this incident by treating the U.S. naval visit as an “innocent passage” through China’s territorial seas. Thanks God that the US doesn't do this. Otherwise, the US would tacitly recognise China's " “indisputable sovereignty”. FIFTH-COLUMN How come, as the USS Lassen has yesterday sailed through the 12-nautical miles claimed by China, it has violated Chinese law when China’s position is not consistent with the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)...
26 Sep Symposium on the ICJ Climate Change Advisory Opinion: What it Means for Land-based Mining in the Green Energy Transition (Part I)
...of land-based mining are linked to the marine environment, too. The obligations under Part XII of the UNCLOS concerning the protection of the marine environment also become relevant. In this regard, article 194 directs states to take all measures to prevent, reduce, and control pollution of the marine environment from any source and ensure that such pollution arising from activities under their jurisdiction and control does not spread beyond areas over which states exercise sovereign rights. This is closely linked to the obligation of states under article 207 to adopt...16 Jun Weekend Roundup: June 9 – 15, 2012
...has nothing to gain from accession since the most of the Convention reflects customary international law; James Kraska argued that UNCLOS is a force multiplier for American power; and John Noyes defended the Convention’s regimes on fisheries, oil and gas, and seabed minerals, as promoting US interests. On the second day of our debate, introduced here by Julian, Jeremy Rabkin cautioned against accession because of the risk that compulsory arbitration might interpret treaty rules in ways contrary to US interests. Steven Groves partially agreed with the arguments in favor of...21 Jul Weekend Roundup: July 14-20, 2012
This week on Opinio Juris, Julian Ku discussed how the announcement by two US Senators of their position against ratification of the UNCLOS, has effectively sunk ratification for this year, and argued that the next administration should seek out bilateral agreements to protect commercial exploitation of the seabed on the high seas. Deborah Pearlstein argued why the US, even if it is not at war with Yemen, is at war in Yemen, and discussed the legal consequences thereof. Kevin Jon Heller gave four reasons why the ICC should not get...25 May Weekend Roundup: May 18-24, 2013
...In other posts, Kevin posted a must-see link to a report visualizing international criminal justice and recommended an article by one of his students on the Kapo trials . We also revisited our discussion of Samantar, with Ingrid Wuerth’s guest post on foreign official immunity, and of the Philippines-China UNCLOS arbitration, with a post by Julian who wasn’t convinced by Professor Stefan Talmon’s argument that all of the Philippines’ claims against China fall outside of the tribunal’s jurisdiction. Julian also asked whether we should care about the upcoming hearings by...13 Dec Weekend Roundup: December 6-12, 2014
...alleged crimes in Darfur, troubled by the seemingly politically laden relationship between the Court and the UN Security Council. Julian also called attention to China’s “position paper” released ahead of its December 15th filing deadline in the situation between China and the Philippines before the UNCLOS arbitral tribunal. He also pointed to his more in-depth analysis of why the Philippines arbitration is doomed to fail (spoiler alert: it’s due to a mistake by the Philippines in employing a “lawfare strategy” forcing China before the arbitral tribunal), notwithstanding Vietnam’s support of...16 Jan Asia’s Ambivalence About International Law & Institutions: Introduction to Opinio Juris and EJIL:Talk! Mini-Symposium
...of others under the pretext of ‘rule of law.’” With regard to the South China Sea issue, China reaffirms in the white paper its commitment to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), but states that disputes over territories and maritime rights should be resolved through “respect[ing] historical facts and seek[ing] a peaceful solution through negotiation and consultation”. Interestingly, the document makes no reference to the infamous nine-dash line, though it does state that China has “indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha [Spratly] Islands and their adjacent waters”....12 Dec Game On with New Player? Vietnam Files Statement Against China at UN Arbitral Tribunal
...the legality of the Chinese “nine-dash line”. I think this filing has much more political than legal significance. As a legal matter, I don’t think there is any procedure in the UNCLOS dispute settlement system for third-party interventions, so I think this is really just like sending a letter to the arbitral tribunal. It has no legal significance, and the tribunal has no obligation to consider it. But of course, it has the right to do so if it believes it is relevant to the dispute before it. On the...11 Dec Why the Philippines’ Arbitration Against China is Doomed to Fail
...disputes. And since it has now spent months denouncing the Philippines arbitration as illegal and illegitimate in its domestic press and internationally, it will be even harder to accept any form of international dispute resolution in the future. This is why the Philippines’ effort to force China to accept arbitration now is doomed to fail and will probably backfire. The Philippines will be in no stronger position vis-à-vis China than it was before the arbitration, even if it wins an award. Meanwhile, the overall credibility and effectiveness of the UNCLOS...14 Jul R.I.P., Professor William T. Burke, Leading Law of the Sea and International Fisheries Scholar
...and Ohio State Law. There is a nice 2008 profile of him in the UW alum magazine here. The following is a personal note from Professor Song: We both are students of the New Haven School for the legal studies, where I met Professor Myres S. McDougal when attending the annual policy science meeting held at Yale Law School. His book entitled THE NEW INTERNATIONAL LAW OF FISHERIES: UNCLOS 1982 AND BEYOND (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994) is one of the most authoritative textbooks for students who are interested in studying...