Selected Principles of the International Law of the Sea

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• * the dispute settlement system of UNCLOS and its variants in related treaties.
• * the non-navigational rights and duties of coastal States and other States in each of the maritime zones in the law of the sea;
• * the challenges from the changing uses of the sea and the sorts of adaptive rules that might in future be needed;
• * the political, economic and military reasons underlying the present rules in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS);

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• * describe the varying and overlapping interests of prominent States in the non-navigational uses of the sea and trace their impact on the law as it has developed;
• * evaluate the effect the legal rules are having on the underlying policy problems, and vice versa;
• * isolate and analyse the international legal issues in factual problems of non-navigational uses of the ocean and their regulation;
• * suggest ways in which the law needs to be developed in order to solve those problems.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• *think critically, develop coherent arguments in writing;
• *identify and analyse key issues;
• *distinguish relevant from irrelevant materials;
• *display clarity and objectivity in written discussion demonstrating an awareness of issue of academic integrity.

The International Law of the Sea is a specialist topic within public international law concerning the control and use of the sea. It has a long history in customary international law, though in more recent times much of it has been codified in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and related treaties. Prior familiarity with the basic principles of international law is therefore assumed in this module, which provides a useful background to maritime law more broadly and to international marine policy.

Most of the module is devoted to a consideration of the rules, history and rationale of the maritime zones known to the modern law of the sea, starting closest to land where the international element is smallest (internal waters) and observing the increasing growth and complexity of that element as we move progressively seaward (territorial sea, archipelagic waters, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf, high seas, seabed area beyond national jurisdiction), and how the boundary lines separating these are drawn. Finally, we look thematically at both fisheries and the dispute settlement system in Part XV of the Convention, which as we will see also indirectly fulfils a substantive function.

This module is taught through seminars (10 x 2hours) which will combine lecture-style and interactive tutorial-style teaching. You are expected to prepare for the seminars by completing allocated reading or any other task.

The most important part of learning is your own independent study. This will, however, be closely guided, and firmly tied into the lectures, seminars and assessment. In the seminars you will have the opportunity to present arguments orally to a group of peers and defend your position under challenge.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Essay

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback: In accordance with Law School Rules
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.