The question this article wishes to raise, albeit in a preliminary and exploratory manner, is whether or not the Arctic, due to its special ecological circumstances, should be regulated in some special ways within the context of the new BBNJ agreement. Taking as the starting point some of the existing special rules adopted under UNCLOS and the IMO to account for special ecological circumstances, ...

The right to Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources (PSNR) emerged in the era of decolonization. As a reaction to the irresponsible exploitation of natural resources by colonial powers, peoples under colonial rule and newly independent developing states asserted the right to control and dispose of their own natural resources. The UN General Assembly recognized and reinforced these claims ...

The present contribution explores aspects of good governance on the global dimension with participation as one of the key elements of a well-governed system, focusing on the Arctic Council’s (AC) commitment to enhance indigenous peoples’ participation in the environmental decision-making process. <br> The paper starts with a reflection on the revolutionary impact that new technologies have had ...

Traditionally, European civil procedure systems have displayed a range of structures. Currently, systems are converging around the main hearing model, which international soft law initiatives on civil procedure also endorse. This text discusses the main content and principles of the main hearing model and its application in English, Finnish, German and Norwegian law. The influence of the underlying ...

This article offers a critical interrogation of the relationship between two emerging conceptual frameworks whose importance has grown quickly within the context of international environmental law: the ecosystem approach and ecosystem services. Both premised on the concept of the ecosystem, their origin is parallel, but their present and future is convergent and increasingly intertwined. The ecosystem ...

It is a long known fact that climate change will result in sea level rise and dramatically changed coastlines for a number of coastal States, and the physical consequences of sea level rise are most likely unavoidable for several coastal States due to their geographical location, size and topography. It is highly debatable whether the Law of the Sea Convention is equipped for dealing with the ...

Naval blockade is an old form of warfare where the current restatement of customary international law on this issue – the 1994 San Remo Manual – leaves something to be desired. The article considers the history of the concept and its current regulation like the requirements for establishing a naval blockade and addresses also issues in relation to its enforcement.

To address the question how a future instrument for areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) might give consideration to the rights and obligations of coastal States and other States in establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) in ABNJ, the current article discusses the options that have been tabled in this respect in the preparatory meetings for the intergovernmental conference that will be ...

This article explores some of the ways in which marine genetic resources conceptually and normatively intersect with the concept and idea of commons. Through an analysis of the terminological ambiguities and semantic slippages characterizing the usage of the concept of commons in international law, the article addresses questions relation to the idea of global commons and to the multiple reciprocal ...