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Search: UNCLOS

17 Nov

...but needs input from institutional law. Catherine Brölmann’s post also discussed the combination of contractual and institutional elements in constitutive treaties. Geir and Catherine’s posts led Duncan Hollis to reflect on how treaty law can lead to “secondary fragmentation” – fragmentation in the “rules on rules”. Christian Tams argued that this “fragmentation” indicates the limits of general treaty law which often only provides residual rules or no rules at all. In our regular posts, Julian Ku questioned whether Argentina’s claim under the UNCLOS against the seizure of its naval training...
17.11.12 | |

27 Oct

...legal problems which may arise in the carrying out of the programmes to explore outer space”. However, by their first meeting, only two states had launched a grand total of just 20 satellites. They had no template to reference – the Antarctic Treaty was only halfway negotiated and not yet drafted, while the four treaties from UNCLOS I left key questions unanswered. The few scholars who’d considered law in space by then had taken one giant leap into becoming punchlines – a joke retold this summer on The Good Fight....
27.10.21 | |

05 Feb

...audio/visual submissions) here. The deadline for submissions is 15 February 2023. Calls for Applications ITLOS – Nippon Foundation Capacity Building and Training Programme 2023-2024: The ITLOS-Nippon Foundation Capacity-Building and Training Programme on Dispute Settlement under UNCLOS, July 2023 – March 2024, to be held at ITLOS (Hamburg, Germany), is welcoming applications until 31 March 2023. For more information see the flyer and website. The French call is listed below. Programme TIDM– Nippon Foundation de renforcement des capacités et de formation 2023-2024: Les personnes intéressées au Programme TIDM-Nippon Foundation de renforcement des capacités et de formation...
05.02.23 | |

26 Jan

This week on Opinio Juris, Duncan was thrilled that the Supreme Court had finally reached a decision on whether to grant certiorari in Bond v United States, a case that requires revisiting Missouri v Holland. Julian though questioned whether Bond v United States will matter, although he gave his own two cents on the treaty power and federalism later. Julian clearly got more excited about the Philippines’ move towards UNCLOS arbitration in the South China Sea dispute with China, which he labelled a game-changer. In further posts on this arbitration,...
26.01.13 | |

25 Sep

...target stricter and accurate, but the obligations become determinable and assessable, a situation which may not bring comfort to States aiming for flexibility but turn out to be instrumental for the fight against the climate change crisis. Regarding the Law of the Sea, the Court concludes that although the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea explicitly requires the protection of the marine environment, it must be understood that the global climate system falls within the scope of this marine environment. Consequently, states party to UNCLOS are obliged...
25.09.25 | |

01 Mar

My previous posts (see here for the most recent) have explained why Judge Kozinski’s opinion in the Sea Shepherd case wrongly considers a political end to be a private end. In this post I want to highlight what is ironic — though not technically incorrect — about Judge Kozinski’s conclusion that Sea Shepherd committed an act of piracy on “the high seas.” That is an essential element of piracy; UNCLOS art. 101, for example, defines piracy as “any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed...
01.03.13 | |

21 Nov

...to strengthen domestic criminal laws, and of course, to the overarching legal framework created by UNCLOS and SUA. This preambular paragraph from Resolution 2020 illustrates the Security Council’s legalistic approach: “Recognizing the need to investigate and prosecute not only suspects captured at sea, but also anyone who incites or intentionally facilitates piracy operations, including key figures of criminal networks involved in piracy who illicitly plan, organize, facilitate, or finance and profit from such attacks and reiterating its concern over a large number of persons suspected of piracy having to be...
21.11.12 | |

24 Nov

...pilot draws that mission!) Although provocative and dangerous, it seem clear to me that China’s ADIZ does not violate international law. Indeed, China’s Foreign Ministry was perfectly correct today in its claim that its ADIZ is consistent with “the U.N. Charter and related state practice.” Countries (led by the U.S.) have long drawn ADIZs beyond their national sovereign airspace as a measure to protect their national airspace. This practice, although not exactly blessed by any treaty, does not appear to violate either the Chicago Convention or UNCLOS. (See Peter Dutton’s...
24.11.13 | |

13 Dec

...see Clinton emphasizing the need for the United States to fix the Human Rights Council and join CTBT and CEDAW, or Edwards wanting the U.S. to renegotiate NAFTA and join the ICC, while Kucinich talks about signing Kyoto and Obama indicates his intention to reinvigorate the Geneva Conventions and have the U.S. join UNCLOS. I really hope that these four won’t be the only candidates to contribute to ASIL’s project (for example, I can’t imagine the site without Senator Biden’s survey response). And, of course, given that ASIL identifies itself...
13.12.07 | |

28 Apr

...China to react, albeit through the soft pressure of an Annex VII UNCLOS arbitral proceeding. It is impressive how China can keep three of its neighbors scrambling to respond while it slowly builds up its territorial claims. In the long run, China v. India/Japan/Philippines/Vietnam/etc. seems like bad odds, but so far it is working. Will international arbitration play any role in resolving these disputes? I doubt it, but we will soon get some empirical evidence if the Philippines is able to win a judgment that affects or shifts China’s behavior....
28.04.13 | |

05 May

...that international humanitarian law applies, smugglers’ boats would be entitled to protection as civilian objects. The smugglers’ activities should not qualify as ‘piracy’ under the UNCLOS Article 101. That would in any case only make them liable to seizure by force by any State on the high seas (Article 105). To argue that the provision allows to destroy their ships when docked in a harbour seems too much of a stretch. 3. Conclusion: Another Problem that Cannot be Solved by Force While there are legal avenues open for using force...
05.05.15 | |

25 May

...the need for action is greater than it has ever been in order to protect and expand America’s sovereignty and national and economic security. And from that ad (quoting John Negroponte): With ratification, America would secure international recognition of the greatest expansion of resource sovereignty in its history, gaining exclusive access to resources in a region larger than the area of the Louisiana Purchase and Alaska combined. So UNCLOS is pro-sovereignty because it literally (littorally) and legally recognizes US jurisidiction over huge swathes of the ocean. You have to admire...
25.05.12 | |