1st Edition

40 Years of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Assessment and Prospects

Edited By Tomasz Kamiński, Karol Karski Copyright 2025
450 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

450 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This book discusses contemporary challenges within the law of the sea, a domain of international law extensively codified in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Given the considerable time elapsed since the convention’s adoption and nearly three decades of its implementation, the book analyses the interplay and influence of its provisions on international customary law, as well as... Read more

Introduction

TOMASZ KAMIŃSKI AND KAROL KARSKI

PART I General remarks

1 Anniversary of the UNCLOS or an epitaph for codification conferences

JERZY MENKES

2 International law of the sea in the achievements of Professor Wojciech Góralczyk: Polish delegate to the first and the third UN Conferences on the Law of the Sea and to the Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Authority and for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

KAROL KARSKI

PART II Maritime areas and their delimitation

3 The methodology of maritime delimitation: achievements and prospects

MARCIN KAŁDUŃSKI

4 The status of straight baselines and the so-called creeping jurisdiction of coastal states: some remarks on the means of addressing unjustified maritime claims

TOMASZ KAMIŃSKI

5 The Antarctic Treaty: the pearl in the crown of the law of extraterritorial space

ZDZISŁAW BRODECKI AND PAWEŁ CHYC

6 Insula in mari nata: a problem of ius gentium that is not only theoretical

PAWEŁ CZUBIK

7 The Law of the Seabed 40 years after UNCLOS

ALDINO SANTOS DE CAMPOS

8 The process of developing maritime spatial plans of the Republic of Poland in the context of water areas under the UNCLOS Convention

WOJCIECH ZDANOWICZ

PART III UNCLOS in the jurisprudence of international and domestic bodies and courts

9 Through the lens of general international rules: How did Judge Manfred Lachs contribute to developing the Law of the Sea?

ALEKSANDER GUBRYNOWICZ

10 The role of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

STANISŁAW MICHAŁ PAWLAK

11 Dispute settlement measures guaranteed by the Convention on the Law of the Sea in the practice of the proceedings of the Russian Federation

VITA CZEPEK

12 Reception of ICJ jurisprudence by domestic courts in the field of international law of the sea

OKTAWIAN KUC

13 Article 235 of LOSC and the international liability regime for oil pollution damage: cracks in the system as shown by recent case law

IVA TUHTAN GRGIĆ AND ZUZANNA PEPŁOWSKA-DĄBROWSKA

PART IV Protection of the marine environment

14 Environmental Law of the Sea and Part XII of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

MAJA SERŠIĆ

15 Marine mammals, the UNCLOS and the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling: too little and too unstructured, a case study of whaling

MALGOSIA FITZMAURICE

16 The Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction: a treaty implementing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea?

TRPIMIR M. ŠOŠIĆ

17 The Vistula Spit canal in the light of the “Rights of Nature” concept and the principle of good neighbourliness

MACIEJ PERKOWSKI AND WOJCIECH ZOŃ

18 Environmental impact assessment as a mandatory element of the submarine pipelines laying process, as seen by the Baltic Sea countries: overview and perspectives

RAFAŁ SZEWCZYK

PART V Maritime security

19 International legal aspects of combating maritime terrorism: notes de lege lata and de lege ferenda

TOMASZ ALEKSANDROWICZ

20 Counteracting maritime incidents of a hybrid nature in the light of the UNCLOS Convention

PIOTR MICKIEWICZ

21 Can Turkey legally close the passage through Turkish Straits for Russian warships due to Russian military aggression against Ukraine?

IRYNA KOZAK-BALANIUK

22 Independent-dependent states: land-locked states’ right of access to and from the sea

DEJAN MAROLOV

23 Maritime disputes involving Poland

DARIUSZ R. BUGAJSKI

PART VI Maritime safety

24 (R)evolution of maritime safety in IMO conventions and UNCLOS

JUSTYNA NAWROT

25 Some legal aspects of satellite navigation and maritime safety

KATARZYNA MYSZONA-KOSTRZEWA

26 Defending the fleet: cybersecurity and autonomous ships

BARBARA STĘPIEŃ

27 Port Community System (PCS) as a digital platform for autonomous ships: a Polish perspective

MAREK GRÓBARCZYK

28 ACCESS DENIED – The COVID-19 pandemic and discretion of port states to decide on access to a port in the light of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: legal and economic consequences

MAGDALENA ADAMOWICZ AND BEATA SZYMANOWSKA

Biography

Tomasz Kamiński (University of Warsaw) – PhD, Dr. Hab. Iur. Associated Professor at Department of Public International Law, Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw and at Faculty of Security, Logistics and Management, Military University of Technology. Author of numerous publications in the field of international law, considering, inter alia: law of the sea, diplomatic law and law of treaties. Member of ILA Committee on Submarine Cables and Pipelines under International Law. Member of the Polish Academy of Science Committee on Maritime Law and of the Legal Advisory Committee to MOFA of the Republic of Poland.

Karol Karski (University of Warsaw) – PhD, Dr. Hab. Iur., Full Professor of Law. Head of the Department of Public International Law at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw. Member of the Committee on Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Representative of Poland during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd part of the 4th session of the ISA (Kingston and New York, 1998). Author of over 160 publications in the field of international law, including the international law of the sea. Former Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.