High Seas Governance

Robert C. Beckman, LL.M., is the Head of the Ocean Law and Policy programme and the former Director of the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore. He has published widely on ocean law and policy issues.Millicent McCreath, LL.M., is a Research Associate with the Ocean Law and Policy Programme at the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore.J. Ashley Roach, LL.M. is the Visiting Senior Principal Research Fellow with the Ocean Law and Policy Programme at the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore. He was attorney in the Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State, and has published widely on law of the sea issues.Zhen Sun, Ph.D., is a Research Fellow with the Ocean Law and Policy Programme at the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore. She has published several articles and chapters on the law of the sea.

• AcknowledgementsRobert Beckman, Millicent McCreath, J. Ashley Roach and Zhen SunList of ContributorsList of AbbreviationsList of Figures and Tables1 Introduction Robert Beckman, Millicent McCreath, J. Ashley Roach and Zhen Sun2 Jurisdiction and Control over Activities by Non-State Entities on the High SeasNilüfer Oral3 Mind the Gap: Marine Geoengineering and the Law of the SeaKaren N. Scott4 Identifying Sensitive Marine Areas in the High Seas: A Review of the Scientific Criteria Adopted under International LawYouna Lyons5 The Use of IMO Instruments for Marine Conservation on the High SeasAldo Chircop6 Conservation and Management of Marine Living Resources beyond National Jurisdiction: Filling the GapsRobin Warner7 High Seas Governance Gaps: International Accountability for Nuclear PollutionGünther Handl8 Liability and Compensation Regimes: Pollution of the High SeasNicholas Gaskell9 Marine Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation in the Arctic High SeasErik Røsæg10 ConclusionsRobert Beckman, Millicent McCreath, J. Ashley Roach and Zhen SunIndex

"The editors observe that UNCLOS “is intended to regulate all uses of the sea” (id.). The way it does so is illustrated by the chapters that follow. One finds citations to substantive provisions of UNCLOS (including its implementation agreements), decisions and advisory opinions rendered under its dispute settlement provisions, and actions of the International Seabed Authority established by UNCLOS. There are also citations to the rich corpus of treaties, regulations, and guidelines promulgated by or under the auspices of competent international and regional organizations established by other instruments to which UNCLOS entrusts much of its detailed implementation; some of those measures are in turn incorporated by reference into UNCLOS.""There is not only a multiplicity of functional regimes in the law of the sea but a multiplicity of international and regional organizations with responsibilities for different types of activities. Such functional allocation of responsibilities is hardly unique to international institutions. But it can pose challenges in implementing environmental objectives directed to particular outcomes…More than one chapter of the book helpfully explores how coordinated responses have emerged and can be encouraged.""What then are the “gaps”? Do they relate to the legal regime established in UNCLOS regarding the high seas or to the governance of the high seas with respect to the preservation and protection of the marine environment? What should we do about them? With what priority? The authors of the essays in this book know their topics well. For them, these are not simple questions. These questions may not even be the most pressing ones." - in: American Journal of International Law Vol. 114, no. 4 (October 2020)