This books offers a comprehensive and innovative picture of the Community's implementation of its international obligations in the field of the marine environment, looking at the participation of the EC and its member states in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other relevant agreements.

The great seas contain immense resources and provide invaluable services to humankind, yet their environmental conditions are threatened worldwide. the authors of this comprehensive study provide a rich assessment of the seas and the efficacy of the initiatives governing them, as well as suggestions for improving governance and protection. Case studies of the Baltic, Mediterranean, Black, Caribbean and East Asian seas illustrate the varying degrees of policy success, failure and promise. the authors address the specific roles of the Law of the Sea and the United Nations Regional Seas Programme and discuss the importance of better information exchange between scientists and policymakers, increased funding, greater participation, and new and more effective laws. National, regional and international initiatives are conceptualized as clusters, and their success evaluated using data on the physical conditions of the seas, the law and policy adopted, and international cooperation. the interdisciplinary, insightful treatment of this complex issue will be of great interest to policymakers, students and scholars in the fields of law and policy as well as marine and environmental sciences.

In Regional Co-operation and Protection of the Marine Environment Under International Law: The Black Sea, Nilufer Oral examines the regional co-operation mechanism for protection and preservation of the Black Sea marine environment within the framework of international law, and subsequently identifies the necessary components for a robust regional regime based on best legal practices. The book provides a thorough review of the complex modern challenges related to the Black Sea, with particular emphasis on biodiversity, fisheries, land-based pollution and vessel-based sources of pollution. A history of regional co-operation in the Black Sea offers an enlightening comparison to the development of regional co-operation in international law, in particular, to Part IX of the 1982 United Nations (Montego Bay) Convention on the Law of the Sea. Further comparative analyses, such as the existing regional regime of the Black Sea as established under the 1992 UNEP Regional Seas Programme, and selected regional seas programmes, including the acquis communautaire of the European Union, cohere into a firm foundation of present findings, upon which basis the author makes recommendations for the future. All those interested in the Law of the Sea, international environmental law, and fisheries management will find a critical new text in Regional Co-operation and Protection of the Marine Environment Under International Law: The Black Sea.

This book offers a comprehensive international law analysis of the European Uniona (TM)s maritime safety legislation. This is a relatively novel field of activity of the EU, but its development has been very rapid. Since 1993, over 40 acts of EU law have been adopted, dealing with a variety of subjects, such as port State control, classification societies, vessel traffic management, ship construction, environmental protection and pollution sanctions. This legislation is analysed from the point of international law, notably the law of the sea and the international maritime conventions. Regional legislation in a field that is traditionally regulated primarily by means of international conventions is bound to create tensions with the related international conventions and with well-established principles of international law. This study assesses how the EU has acted as a flag State, port State and coastal State and measures the trends in this development against the international legal framework. More detailed legal analyses are offered for specific aspects of EU legislation that are considered to be particularly interesting from an international law point of view. The relationship between EU law and international law within the internal EU legal system is also analysed from the specific perspective of maritime safety law.

The number of global instruments affecting the law of marine environmental protection--both `soft' and `hard' law--grows constantly. Regional organizations have become increasingly concerned with matters affecting traditional freedoms of the seas. As a result, the law in this area has rapidly expanded, often creating competing or conflicting rules. Competing Norms in the Law of Marine Environmental Protection contains edited versions of the papers presented at a conference in the andÅland Islands, Finland, in August 1996, convened by the Department of Law of andÅbo Akademi University, Finland. It provides a detailed examination of current legal issues relating to the variety of rules and rule-makers in the field of marine environmental protection. It then goes further, relating the recent developments to international law in a wider context. The legal regime regulating ship safety and pollution prevention provides an excellent illustration of contemporary trends of international law in general and of the law of the sea and international environmental law in particular.

The content and status of the precautionary principle remains highly debated and various questions arise, such as its status as a rule of customary international law, including its scope, addressee, triggering threshold, precautionary action measures, and eventually limits of the principle. Thus, this book examines the present state of affairs regarding the implementation of the principle in the law of the sea in different sectors, e.g. pollution of the marine environment, conservation and management of living marine resources, and transboundary transports of radioactive and hazardous wastes. In addition, it extracts evidence of its acceptance as part of customary international law, and indicates that below this level there is also an emerging practice of international law of applying the precautionary principle in a common way.

This handbook is the first of its kind to provide a clear, accessible, and comprehensive introduction to the most important scientific and management topics in marine environmental protection. Leading experts discuss the latest perspectives and best practices in the field with a particular focus on the functioning of marine ecosystems, natural processes, and anthropogenic pressures. The book familiarizes readers with the intricacies and challenges of managing coasts and oceans more sustainably, and guides them through the maze of concepts and strategies, laws and policies, and the various actors that define our ability to manage marine activities. Providing valuable thematic insights into marine management to inspire thoughtful application and further study, it is essential reading for marine environmental scientists, policy-makers, lawyers, practitioners and anyone interested in the field.