1st Edition
Sovereignty and the Limits of International Law Regulating Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
The inspiration for this book comes from negotiations that are taking place under the auspices of the United Nations by an intergovernmental conference for a new International Legally Binding Instrument (ILBI) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ). The proposed ILBI is attempting to fill existing gaps under international law over marine biodiversity and Marine Genetic Resources (MGR) in ABNJ. One way it is attempting to do this is by having an Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) schema over these resources in ABNJ that the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Nagoya Protocol (NP) do not currently cover. These existing frameworks that regulate genetic resources are grounded in the notion of sovereignty. Effectively, States have sovereign rights over their biological resources. The ILBI, however, is attempting to regulate marine biodiversity and MGR in ABNJ. Thus, the notion that negotiators representing nation States under the auspices of the United Nations can regulate ABNJ is paradoxical – are these areas beyond nation States’ jurisdiction or not? Implicitly, the negotiators are acting as though they have sovereignty over resources located in what has been historically a sovereign-free space. Thus, the purpose of this book is to investigate this paradox. Essentially, this book critiques the notion that ABNJ can actually be regulated under the auspices of the United Nations by nation-State negotiators.
List of figures viii
List of Abbreviations ix
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 International law 2
1.2.1 The League of Nations 2
1.2.2 The United Nations 3
1.2.3 The organs of the United Nations 5
1.2.4 General assembly 6
1.2.5 Economic and Social Council 7
1.2.6 International Court of Justice 7
1.2.7 The United Nations Security Council 8
1.2.8 Decolonisation/self-determination 9
1.2.9 United Nations’ expanded reach 12
1.3 Bretton Woods Agreement 13
1.3.1 The International Monetary Fund 13
1.3.2 The World Bank 15
1.3.3 The World Trade Organization 16
1.4 Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction 19
1.5 The international legally binding instrument and the paradox (restated) 22
2 Sovereignty 25
2.1 Introduction 25
2.2 Contemporary sovereignty 27
2.3 Historical sovereignty 31
2.3.1 Jean Bodin (1530–1596) 31
2.3.2 Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) 33
2.3.3 John Locke (1632–1704) 38
2.3.4 Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) 40
2.3.5 Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) 43
2.3.6 John Austin (1790–1859) 46
2.3.7 Hans Kelsen (1881–1973) 50
2.3.8 Carl Schmitt (1888–1985) 60
2.4 Sovereignty is supreme power 78
2.5 Chapter conclusion 79
3 Boundaries 82
3.1 Introduction 82
3.2 High seas 85
3.2.1 Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) Mare Liberum (free seas) 85
3.2.2 John Selden (1584–1654) Mare Clausum (closed seas) 91
3.3 The cannon-shot rule (three-mile rule) 96
3.4 The Truman Proclamations 101
3.5 Sovereignty and UNCLOS 102
3.6 Conclusion 111
4 The Lotus case 113
4.1 Introduction 113
4.2 Background 114
4.3 The Permanent Court of International Justice 118
4.4 The assenting judgement 121
4.5 Dissenting judgements 122
4.6 Application of law and sovereignty 127
4.7 Conclusion 128
5 Whaling 130
5.1 Introduction 130
5.2 Whaling 132
5.2.1 Japan’s whaling history 132
5.2.2 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) 136
5.2.3 International Whaling Commission (IWC) 138
5.3 Japanese media articles 141
5.3.1 Sea Shepherd (2010) (Peaks 2 and 5) 144
5.3.2 Japan leaves the IWC (Peaks 4 and 6) 149
5.4 Application of law and sovereignty 156
5.5 Conclusion 158
6 International Seabed Authority 160
6.1 Introduction 160
6.2 The area becoming the common heritage of mankind (CHM) 163
6.3 ISA’s establishment under UNCLOS – resources and activities in the area 172
6.4 ISA’s power structure 174
6.4.1 Assembly 175
6.4.2 Council 175
6.4.3 Secretariat 177
6.4.4 Seabed Disputes Chamber (SDC) 178
6.5 Application of law and sovereignty 179
6.6 Conclusion 181
7 Outer space 182
7.1 Introduction 182
7.2 Outer space versus airspace jurisdiction 183
7.3 Outer space frameworks 187
7.3.1 Outer Space Treaty 189
7.3.2 Rescue Agreement 194
7.3.3 Liability Convention 195
7.3.4 Registration Convention 196
7.3.5 Moon Treaty 197
7.4 United States Space Force (space force) 199
7.5 Application of law and sovereignty 203
7.6 Conclusion 207
8 Conclusion 213
8.1 Introduction 213
8.2 Challenges for regulating ABNJ 214
8.3 Who decides in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction? 217
8.4 Future research directions 220
8.5 Concluding remarks 222
Index 224
Biography
Todd Berry is Adjunct Research Fellow at Griffith University, Australia. His research focuses on a theoretical and juridical account of sovereignty in the context of claims to resources located in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.
