I have purposely limited myself to a rather brief statement in this introduc tion, in order that the summing up be not misrepresented for the discursive development of the whole. There is something more than mildly dangerous in setting oneself a series of goals in an introduction only to find them happily attained in the conclusion, as if getting from the beginning to the end was simply a question of transition. Of course, the destination of a speculative presentation includes the process of development in such a way that the end is always implicitly the beginning: each configuration simply...

Since 1945, it is estimated, more people have perished as a result of gross human rights violations than as a result of war, yet we have little knowledge of why governments commit gross human rights violations. The present study, seeking to obtain an understanding of the causes underlying gross human rights violations, compares the human rights situation in a country where gross human rights violations are the rule (Guatemala) with the situation in a country where this type of violations does not occur (Costa Rica).
The focus of the study is on the short-term sources within the political...

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 entered into force on 16 November 1994. Since this date a single binding instrument has regulated the rights and duties of States at sea and regarding the sea. New concepts, such as the exclusive economic zone, archipelagic waters, transit passage through straits, and the International Seabed Area, are now fully recognized.
The fifteen member States of the European Union are a significant sample for analyzing the practice of States, or at least that of the Western industrialized States, as regards the law of the sea....

Until recently, the international community failed to adopt either an agreed limit for the breadth of the territorial sea or a satisfactory regime of fisheries in the waters adjacent to the territorial sea. This provoked an eruption of unilateral acts by which coastal states extended their jurisdiction towards the high seas. The Third U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea accepted the establishment of a 12-mile territorial sea and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
While taking into account the non-existent rights and interests of the so-called geographically disadvantaged states and of...

A treasure lies at the bottom of the oceans. This treasure takes the form of a legal and ethical principle which may illuminate the potential for an enriching international community in a world of growing disparities. It is the principle of the Common Heritage of Humanity. The 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea delineated an Area and then proclaimed the Area and its resources the common heritage of mankind'. The author suggests that the terms common', heritage', and humanity' invite a larger perspective on the law underlying the Convention. Cries of the Sea provides a...

The last quarter century has witnessed vast changes in the governance of ocean space and resources. The keystone instrument in the new legal order is the 1982 UN Law of the Sea Convention, an agreement comprehensive in its scope that has provided the framework for further innovations in marine policy and ocean law. Accelerated change in the 1990s included the revision and the going-into-force of the 1982 Convention; and the conclusion of new international agreements on biodiversity, on the management of fishery stocks in international waters, and on marine navigation and safety. There has...

Navigational rights and freedoms have been central to the development of the law of the sea since the original debates over whether the seas were open' or closed' to maritime traffic. The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea recognises the legitimate rights of coastal states to proclaim sovereignty and assert jurisdiction over vast areas of maritime space. In return, maritime states are given a range of navigational rights over waters ranging from the territorial sea through to the high sea. The new regime of the law of the sea created by the Convention presents an opportunity to review...

The climate and other characteristics of the polar regions have been major factors in shaping the legal regime applicable to the polar oceans. In Antarctica, states have had to grapple with the question of how to account for developments in the law of the sea, while preserving the compromise over sovereignty contained in the Antarctic Treaty. The Arctic also has presented challenges for the law of the sea, as illustrated by the continued attention given to special rules for polar shipping. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has led to substantial agreement on the legal...

The 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage represents a major step forward in the field of international law. New archaeological rules as well as a comprehensive co-operation system among the States concerned are set up by the new Convention. Despite the negative attitude assumed by few States at the moment of voting for the text of the Convention, this new international instrument is welcome by the great majority of States.
This volume focuses on the main aspects of the Convention. It is divided in two parts, to describe the situation before and...

The European Community and its member states have shared competences in marine environmental matters. As a consequence, they have jointly acceded to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) and most marine-related international agreements, which have been concluded in form of "mixed agreements." This book looks at the manner in which the Community implements its international obligations in the specific fields of the prevention of oil pollution from ships, the regulation of ocean dumping and the protection of marine habitats through the establishment of Marine Protected...