Law of the Sea

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Development, Marine Biodiversity, and the Common Heritage of Mankind: The ISA’s Deep Seabed Mining Quandary and Complying with the High Seas BBNJ Convention

July 10, 2023

Starting July 9, 2023, the International Seabed Authority (ISA), sited in Jamaica, will allow companies to file permit applications for commercial deep seabed mining. In 2021, the Government of Nauru invoked Section 1(15) of the 1994 Implementation Agreement to Part XI of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which effectively started a 2-year clock for the ISA to elaborate regulatory rules on commercial deep seabed mining.  Failure to meet the deadline would require the ISA to consider and 'provisionally approve' an application for commercial exploitation of the deep seabed coming from a Member State to UNCLOS whose national intends to apply for approval of mining exploitation in the Area.  With a population of around 12,000 and a terrestrial area not exceeding 25 square kilometers, Nauru stated in 2021 that Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI) intended to make this application for deep seabed mining exploitation in the Area. Section 1(15) does not make it automatic for the ISA to 'provisionally adopt' applications for commercial seabed mining…

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Halfway Through 2023: A Year of Unparalleled, Avoidable Migrant Tragedies at Sea

June 21, 2023

In April 2023, I wrote about the Crotone migrant shipwreck which occurred on February 26, 2023, and ‘shocked’ the European Union (EU). Approximately 94 lives were lost, several others are still missing, and 86 survived. The incident was yet another paradigm of the delayed/non-assistance saga that has been unfolding in the Mediterranean Sea region at the…

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Dispute Settlement Under the BBNJ Agreement: Accepting Part XV of the UNCLOS with a Twist

May 15, 2023

Introduction On 4 March 2023, the Implementing Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted after nearly two decades of negotiations. As the third ‘child’ of UNCLOS, the Agreement acquires from its parents…

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How could the BBNJ Agreement affect the International Seabed Authority’s Mining Code?

April 13, 2023

On 4 March 2023, a new treaty text was finalized for an agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). This historic achievement could change the way we manage and use the ocean in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). Once the BBNJ Agreement is formally adopted, a key question will…

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The Crotone Migrant Shipwreck: A Cat-and-Mouse Blame Game and the Role of Technologies at External Borders

April 12, 2023

There are myriad ways States could exercise effective remote control over the rights of persons, including detrimental rescue instructions, as well as policy and operational arrangements that can hinder human rights protection. On 26 February 2023, a migrant shipwreck off the Italian coast of Crotone, yet again ‘shocked’ the European Union (EU). Indeed, it has been quite a…

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