The Oxford Handbook of the Law of the Sea (Oxford Handbooks)

Human activities have taken place in the world's oceans and seas for most of human history. With such a vast number of ways in which the oceans can be used for trade, exploited for natural resources and fishing, as well as concerns over maritime security, the legal systems regulating the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans have long been a crucial part of international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea comprehensively defined the parameters of the law of the sea in 1982, and since the Convention was concluded it has seen considerable development. This Oxford Handbook provides a comprehensive and original analysis of its current debates and controversies, both theoretical and practical. Written by over forty expert and interdisciplinary contributors, the Handbook sets out how the law of the sea has developed, and the challenges it is currently facing. The Handbook consists of forty chapters divided into six parts. First, it explains the origins and evolution of the law of the sea, with a particular focus upon the role of key publicists such as Hugo Grotius and John Selden, the gradual development of state practice, and the creation of the 1982 UN Convention. It then reviews the components which comprise the maritime domain, assessing their definition, assertion, and recognition. It also analyses the ways in which coastal states or the international community can assert control over areas of the sea, and the management and regulation of each of the maritime zones. This includes investigating the development of the mechanisms for maritime boundary delimitation, and the decisions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The Handbook also discusses the actors and intuitions that impact on the law of the sea, considering their particular rights and interests, in particular those of state actors and the principle law of the sea institutions. Then it focuses on operational issues, investigating longstanding matters of resource management and the integrated oceans framework. This includes a discussion and assessment of the broad and increasingly influential integrated oceans management governance framework that interacts with the traditional law of the sea. It considers six distinctive regions that have been pivotal to the development of the law of the sea, before finally providing a detailed analysis of the critical contemporary issues facing the law of the sea. These include threatened species, climate change, bioprospecting, and piracy. The Handbook will be an invaluable and thought-provoking resource for scholars, students, and practitioners of the law of the sea. Human activities have taken place in the world's oceans and seas for most of human history. With such a vast number of ways in which the oceans can be used for trade, exploited for natural resources and fishing, as well as concerns over maritime security, the legal systems regulating the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans have long been a crucial part of international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea comprehensively defined the parameters of the law of the sea in 1982, and since the Convention was concluded it has seen considerable development. This book provides an analysis of its current debates and controversies, both theoretical and practical. It consists of forty chapters divided into six parts. First, it explains the origins and evolution of the law of the sea, with a particular focus upon the role of key publicists such as Hugo Grotius and John Selden, the gradual development of state practice, and the creation of the 1982 UN Convention. It then reviews the components which comprise the maritime domain, assessing their definition, assertion, and recognition. It also analyzes the ways in which coastal states or the international community can assert control over areas of the sea, and the management and regulation of each of the maritime zones. This includes investigating the development of the mechanisms for maritime boundary delimitation, and the decisions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The book also discusses the actors and intuitions that impact on the law of the sea, considering their particular rights and interests, in particular those of state actors and the principle law of the sea institutions. Then it focuses on operational issues, investigating longstanding matters of resource management and the integrated oceans framework. This includes a discussion and assessment of the broad and increasingly influential integrated oceans management governance framework that interacts with the traditional law of the sea. It considers six distinctive regions that have been pivotal to the development of the law of the sea, before finally providing a detailed analysis of the critical contemporary issues facing the law of the sea. These include threatened species, climate change, bioprospecting, and piracy Cover The Oxford Handbook of the Law of the Sea Copyright Table of Contents List of Illustrations Table of Cases Table of Treaties List of Abbreviations Notes on Contributors 1 Historical Development of the Law of the Sea 2 The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 3 Between Stability and Change in the Law of the Sea Convention: Subsequent Practice, Treaty Modification, and Regime Interaction 4 Baselines 5 The Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone 6 International Straits 7 The Archipelagic Regime 8 The Exclusive Economic Zone 9 The Continental Shelf 10 The High Seas 11 The Deep Seabed 12 Maritime Boundary Delimitation 13 Port and Coastal States 14 Flag States 15 Landlocked and Geographically Disadvantaged States 16 The United Nations: A Practitioner’s Perspective 17 The Law of the Sea Convention Institutions 18 Courts and Tribunals: The ICJ, ITLOS, and Arbitral Tribunals 19 The International Maritime Organization 20 Regional Fisheries Management Organizations 21 Integrated Oceans Management: A New Frontier in Marine Environmental Protection 22 Marine Living Resources 23 Science and the International Regulation of Marine Pollution 24 Navigational Rights and Freedoms 25 Marine Scientific Research 26 Maritime Security 27 The Mediterranean Sea 28 The South China Sea 29 North-East Atlantic and the North Sea 30 The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico 31 The Indian Ocean and the Law of the Sea: A Work in Progress 32 Polar Oceans and Law of the Sea 33 Conserving Marine Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction: Co-Evolution and Interaction with the Law of the Sea 34 Warming Waters and Souring Seas: Climate Change and Ocean Acidification 35 Threatened Species and Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems 36 Marine Bioprospecting 37 Piracy 38 Military Operations 39 Charting the Future for the Law of the Sea Index Human activities have taken place in the world's oceans for most of human history. With the oceans being used for trade, being exploited for fisheries and mineral resources extraction, and becoming the focal point for security crises, the legal regime regulating the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans has long been a crucial part of international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea comprehensively defined the parameters of the law of the sea in 1982, and since the Convention was concluded it has seen considerable development. This Oxford Handbook provides a comprehensive and original analysis of its current debates and controversies, both theoretical and practical. Written by thirty nine expert contributors, the Handbook sets out how the law of the sea has developed, and the challenges it is currently facing. It is an invaluable and thought-provoking resource for scholar, students, and practitioners of the law of the sea. Recent maritime disputes, environmental disasters, and piracy have raised the profile of the law of the sea. This handbook brings together high-level analysis of all of its key aspects, examining the role of particular regions in the development of the law of the sea, management of the oceans' resources, and critical contemporary debates