Law of the Sea – 6027

This course will examine in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). UNCLOS has been established as arguably the most comprehensive expression of multilateral treaty negotiation and practical application over the past decades, since it entered into force in 1994. That Convention is the definitive word on articulating the use by nation states of the world’s seas and oceans and the concomitant rights and responsibilities arising there from. The course will examine the historical perspective of the use of seas and oceans and the evolution this body of international law which is all embracing. The course therefore address the older regimes of the sea as well as the innovations which UNCLOS have ushered in, which include: the territorial sea, contiguous zone, rights of innocent passage; archipelagic states; the exclusive economic zone; the continental shelf; access by landlocked sates to the resources of the sea; geographically disadvantaged states; protection of the environment; the high seas and the resources thereof for the common heritage of mankind; the international seabed authority; maritime delimitation and the dispute settlement arrangements through the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea, among others. A wealth of case law which is at hand to map the development of international law of the sea, will be a useful tool in this course. The course will adopt a practical approach to enhance skills in the drafting of treaties pursuant to UNCLOS such as arrangements between coastal states and landlocked states for the sharing of the resources of the EEZ. Students will be exposed to “mock” maritime boundary delimitations and guest lecturers/visiting professors will facilitate this simulation.At the conclusion of the course, the student will be equipped with an extensive understanding of the international legal framework which is covered by this course as well as the practical approach to the use of UNCLOS.