Freedom of Navigation and Globalization offers a timely analysis of current issues in the Law of the Sea in six Parts. Part I examines co-operative measures taken within the Southeast Asia region to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships, and the historical activities of the Republic of Korea navy in countering piracy. Part II focuses on transnational threats including counter proliferation activities, freedom of navigation, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, and the regulation of private maritime security companies. Part III consists of two essays on development in the Arctic Ocean. The first updates the activities of the Arctic Council, the second looks at cooperative measures taken by China, Japan, and Korea with respect to science in the Arctic. In Part IV the topic of energy security and sealanes is taken up. Institutional building within ASEAN is examined for maritime security in Southeast Asia. Freedom of navigation is compared with the straight baselines of China in the South China Sea. In the next essay, cooperative efforts to enhance navigational safety and environmental protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore are explored. Part V considers balancing marine environmental protection and freedom of navigation. The European Union’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive is reviewed. The dispute settlement regime in UNCLOS and the 2001 International Law Commission Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts are analyzed for flag State responsibility for pollution violations. The current mechanisms in the South China Sea marine environment are also evaluated. Part VI discusses marine data collection in the context of its applicability to Part XIII of UNCLOS. Attention is given to the various categories and their legal consequences. The last paper in the volume outlines global challenges such as global warming, rising sea level and changes in the ice over in the Polar Regions.

From the earliest of time, the high seas were open to free and unrestricted use by all. The rule of customary law that was subsequently codified in 1982 was that the high seas were open to all States and no State could validly purport to subject any part of them to its sovereignty. From this doctrine, it follows therefore, that no State has the right to prevent or interfere with ships of another State from using the high seas for any lawful act. Exceptions are provided for under international law when States are at liberty to interfere with vessels of other States sailing on the high seas. In cases, for instance, where unlawful acts are suspected, such as piracy or slave trade. In 1981, however, the United States government introduced an interdiction programme against Haitian flag vessels on the high seas, to stop the flow of Haitian immigrants from entering the United States who were regarded as a serious national problem detrimental to the interests of the United States. The interdiction programme involved boarding and searching vessels in international waters, and was questioned by international law practitioners. This book reviews the legality of the United States programme.

The Law of the Sea Convention: US Accession and Globalization, provides valuable insight into a number of contemporary and pressing issues concerning the world’s oceans and their management. Organized into two major sections, Part l presents the findings of senior-level experts addressing the fact that the United States is not a Party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (UNCLOS). Brought together on the occasion of the 34th Annual Conference of the Center for Oceans Law and Policy, University of Virginia School of Law (COLP), panels considered the impact of the lack of US participation in UNCLOS, evaluating topics such as energy and economic development, including the undersea cable industry, as well as ramifications for U.S. national security and navigational rights. Part ll of the volume examines key trends in commercial shipping, piracy and terrorism, islands and rocks, safety and navigational freedom, marine scientific research, and emerging global oceans policy issues. Presented by a diverse group of experts, the work brings together the results of an international meeting co-sponsored by the Korea Maritime Institute, the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea and COLP. Collectively, the work included in this important volume contributes to the existing literature and will be of interest to scholars, practitioners and the policy community.