Based on presentations made at the Center's twenty-fifth annual seminar held in Hamburg, Germany from March 16-19, 2001.

The Center for Oceans Law and Policy, University of Virginia School of Law, annually hosts a conference on a topical subject of interest to the global law of the sea community. The twenty-fifth meeting of the Center was co-sponsored by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and held in March 2001, at its Hamburg headquarters. The conference theme, Current Marine Environmental Issues and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, featured two days of presentations from many of the world's foremost experts. The published conference proceedings include papers by Satya N. Nandan, Secretary-General, International Seabed Authority; P. Chandrasekhara Rao, President, ITLOS; most of the ITLOS judges; and a number of private practitioners concerned with the marine environment. Topics discussed focused on the past, present, and future dispute settlement activities of ITLOS and the regulatory consequences in Europe as a result of the Erika oil spill on 12 December, 1999. Current Marine Environmental Issues and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is a significant collection of authoritative commentary, compiled through the cooperation of an academic institution and an international organization specifically dedicated to peaceful settlement of disputes in the world's oceans.

"This book explores recent contributions of the case-law of international courts and tribunals to the development of international law. It begins by looking at how such case-law has contributed to the development of the methodology of international law and to the development of procedural rules. It further examines recent contributions from three major players in the international judicial arena: the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the mechanisms for Investor-State Dispute Settlement"--

The oceans cover more than seventy per cent of the surface of the planet and they provide many vital ecosystem services. However, the health of the world's oceans has been deteriorating over the past decades and the protection of the marine environment has emerged as one of the most pressing legal and political challenges for the international community. An effective solution depends upon the cooperation of all states towards achieving agreed objectives. This book provides a critical assessment of the role that international law plays in this process, by explaining and evaluating the various legal instruments that have been negotiated in this area, as well as key trends in global ocean governance. Starting with a detailed analysis of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the book considers the main treaties and other legal texts that seeks to prevent, reduce, and control damage to the marine environment caused by navigation, seabed exploitation, fishing, dumping, and land-based activities, as well as emerging pressures such as ocean noise and climate change. The book demonstrates how international institutions have expanded their mandates to address a broader range of marine environmental issues, beyond basic problems of pollution control to include the conservation of marine biological diversity and an ecosystems approach to regulation. It also discusses the development of diverse regulatory tools to address anthropogenic impacts on the marine environment and the extent to which states have adopted a precautionary approach in different maritime sectors. Whilst many advances have been made in these matters, this book highlights the need for greater coordination between international institutions, as well as the desirability of developing stronger enforcement mechanisms for international environmental rules.

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is an independent judicial body established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the Convention. The Tribunal is open to States, international organizations and other entities. The Yearbook will give lawyers, scholars, students as well as the general public easy access to information about the jurisdiction, procedure and organization of the Tribunal and also about its composition and activities in 2001. The Yearbook was prepared by the Registry of the Tribunal. The Tribunal has also published a volume of Basic Texts which contains documents that are fundamental to the mandate and operation of the Tribunal and which provides the essential documentation relating to the law and procedure applicable to the Tribunal. The "Yearbook" is also available in French (Annuaire).

This book provides a first-hand insight into the constitution, jurisdiction, procedure and judicial practice of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. It provides a valuable guide to the jurisprudence of the Tribunal over the past 20 years, and serves as a reference point for practical information on how cases are received and handled by the Tribunal.

Focusing on the functioning of the dispute settlement system under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea since its entry into force, this monograph offers a comprehensive study of dispute resolution in the contemporary law of the sea.