INTERNATIONAL MARITIME

LAW

Dr. Indr Isokait

Institute of International and European Union
Law
Public Law Department
Law Faculty
Vilnius University

Lecture No 1
Development and
Sources
of the International
Maritime Law

Dr. Indr Isokait

E-mail: indre.isokaite@gmail.com
Consultation hours: 11:00-12:00 a.m. on Mondays,
room No 313
IML
Mondays 9:00-11:00 (room No 605)
Lectures 12 / Seminars 4
Discussion
Analysis of cases
Presentations
Etc.
Final Examination
In writing (theory based questions and a case)

International Maritime
Law
International Maritime Law
International Law of the Sea
Admiralty Law
Private
Public

Formation and development of

the International Maritime Law
The formation of the IML is
stipulated
by
the
emergence
and
development of public
relations in the fields
related with the use of the
worlds seas and oceans...

The oceans are the very foundation of human

life
Life itself arose from the oceans. The ocean is vast,
covering 140 million square miles, some 72 per cent
of the earth's surface. Climate and weather, even
the quality of the air people breathe, depend in
great measure on an interplay between the ocean
and the atmosphere in ways still not fully
understood. Not only has the oceans always been a
prime source of nourishment for the life it helped to
generate, but from earliest recorded history it has
served for trade and commerce, adventure and
discovery. It has kept people apart and brought
them together...

The oceans are the very foundation of human

life
Even now, when the continents have been mapped and
their interiors made accessible by road, river and air,
most of the world's people live no more than 200 miles
from the sea and relate closely to it.
The ocean, with its enormity and mystery, has ever been
part of human consciousness. As mystery gave way to
mastery, whole bodies of custom, tradition and law
arose defining the rights of the ships and mariners who
plied the waters and of the States on the rim of the
oceans...
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/oceans_foundation.htm

The first codifications of

IML

The Digest of Justinian, legal code of

ancient Rome (530)
Lex maritima in Europe (X-XII century)
Rules of Oleron, North Western Europe
(1160)
Hugo Grotius Mare Liberum (1603)
Laws of Wisbuy, Hansa Code, Baltic region
Ordonnance de la marine, France (1981)
Lex maritima, lex mercatoria, etc.

Development of IML
IML developed with the new types
of uses of the worlds seas and
oceans and emergence of new rules
for the regulation of developing
maritime relations. The evolution of
IML was also based on the growing
amount of claims of coastal states
in respect of certain maritime areas
adjacent to their shores, as well as
in response to maritime disasters.

Development of IML
Freedom of the seas doctrine
versus national claims
in the light of growing concerns to
the whole International Community
related
with
sea
pollution,
navigation
safety,
unlimited
exploitation of sea resources and
other risks and challenges.

Development of IML: Mid 20th

century
In 1945, President Harry S. Truman,
responding in part to pressure from
domestic oil interests, unilaterally
extended United States jurisdiction over
all natural resources on that nation's
continental shelf - oil, gas, minerals, etc.
This was the first major challenge to the
freedom-of-the-seas doctrine
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreement
s/convention_historical_perspective.htm#Historical
Perspective

1958 Geneva
Conventions
1958 Convention on the Territorial
Sea and Contiguous Zone
1958 Convention on the
Continental Shelf
1958 Convention on the High Seas
1958 Convention on Fishing and
Conservation of the Living
Resources of the High Seas

1982 United Nations

Convention for the Law of
the Sea (UNCLOS)
LOS Convention is a globally recognized
regime dealing with all matters relating to
the law of the sea and governing all uses
of the oceans and their resources
Outcome of over 14 years of work
Participation of more than 150 countries
In force since 16 November 1994
Comprised of 320 articles and nine
annexes

1982 LOS Convention

The Convention balances the differing interests of
States: coastal, land-locked, flag states, port states, etc.
It is coherent, internally balanced and forward-looking.
The Convention represents codification, consolidation,
progressive development and the conscious revision or
reform of the law of the sea. It stands today alongside
other achievements of the UN in the field of codification
and progressive development such as the Vienna
Conventions on Treaties and Diplomatic Relations
David Anderson. Modern Law of the Sea: Selected Essays.
Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2008. P. 59.

1982 LOS Convention

Writing in 1983 Allott described the Convention as
legally comprehensive: it has a rule for everything.
The rule may be a permissive rule. It may be an
obligation. It may confer an explicit freedom or
leave a residual liberty by not specifying a right or a
duty. But a Flying Dutchman wandering the sea
areas of the world, carrying his copy of the
Convention, would always be able to answer in legal
terms the questions: who am I? who is that over
there? where am I? what may I do now? what must I
do now? The Convention would never fail him.
Alex G. Oude Elferink (ed). Stability and Change in the Law
of the Sea: the role of the LOS Convention. P. 24.

A Constitution for the Oceans

Regulation
A Constitution for the
Oceans
(1973-1982)
Third Conference for the
Law of the Sea
Tommy T.B. Koh

Implementation
Ban Ki-Moon
The future we want, 2012
<...>We stress the importance of the
conservation and sustainable use of
the oceans and seas and of their
resources for sustainable development,
including through their contributions to
poverty
eradication,
sustained
economic growth, food security and
creation of sustainable livelihoods and
decent work, while at the same time
protecting biodiversity and the marine
environment and addressing the
impacts of climate change.<...>

International Maritime Law

International Maritime Law is the
system of rules (part of Public
International Law) regulating the
relations in using the worlds
seas and oceans in the fields of
fishery, navigation, economic
activities at sea, exploitation of
sea resources, protection of sea
environment, etc.

Maritime Zones
inland sea waters
territorial sea
contiguous zone
continental shelf
exclusive economic zone
high seas
international sea-bed area

Sources of International
Maritime Law
International Conventions
International custom /
Customary law
General principles of law
Case law
Legal doctrine

Chart on Maritime Zones

https://www.defensie.nl/english/topics/hydrography/contents/maritim
e-zones-and-boundaries

International
Conventions
IML is now one of the most codified
branches of International Law.
Many conventions have been adopted
in response to maritime disasters, e.g.
Titanic (1912), Torrey Canyon (1967),
etc.
In the framework of the UN and
International Maritime Organisations:
MARPOL, SOLAS, SAR, SALVAGE and
other conventions.

The Role of International

Organizations
International
Organisations
are
developing UNCLOS regime in
creating and adopting new rules,
applying the rules of the LOS
Convention,
filling in the gaps of regulation and
otherwise dealing with maritime
matters.

www.imo.org

The Titanic disaster of 1912 spawned the

first international safety of life at sea
(SOLAS) convention and encouraged the
establishment of IMO in 1948 by an
international conference in Geneva (the
original name was the Inter-Governmental
Maritime Consultative Organization, or
IMCO, but the name was changed in 1982
to IMO). IMO is a specialised agency of the
United Nations which is responsible for
measures to improve the safety and
security of international shipping and to
prevent marine pollution from ships.

www.imo.org
IMO's mission statement:
"The mission of the International Maritime
Organization (IMO) as a United Nations specialized
agency is to promote safe, secure, environmentally
sound, efficient and sustainable shipping through
cooperation. This will be accomplished by adopting
the highest practicable standards of maritime
safety and security, efficiency of navigation and
prevention and control of pollution from ships, as
well as through consideration of the related legal
matters and effective implementation of IMOs
instruments with a view to their universal and
uniform application."

Other International
Organisations
Food and Agricultural Organisation
fishing
International Oceanographic Commission
of UNESCO scientific research
International Hydrographic Organisation
charts
Regional Organisations, e.g.
Helsinki
Commission
(HELCOM)

cooperation of the Baltic Sea States in the

field of the protection of the marine
environment.

Modern International Law

of the Sea: main challenges
Expanding human activities at sea
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
Overexploitation of (non-living) sea resources
Sea pollution
Safety at sea
Sea piracy
Territorial claims
Climate change, sustainable development
and...
Other (e.g. related with jurisdiction, military
exercise, weapons testing)

Expanding human activities at

sea

There are hundreds of drilling platforms and

other installations built at sea, tens of
thousands kilometres of underwater cables
and pipelines
http://www.prlog.org/

Unreported, unregulated
fishing

Possible illegal fishing vessel being boarded by

fisheries protection officers in the British Indian Ocean
Territory. Photo by: R.Gater
http://www.mrag.co.uk/Documents/PolicyBrief8_IUU.pdf

Overexploitation of sea
resources

Manganese nodules,
salt,
potassium,
magnesium,
sand
and gravel, gold, tin,
titanium, diamonds,
fresh water
Technological
development,
growing extraction
capabilities, human
needs

http://www.accesseu.org/en/resource_extraction.ht
ml

Ocean and Sea Pollution

www.tumblr.com

thetruthbehindthescen
es.wordpress.com

Safety at Sea
Thousands of migrants
try to reach the shore...

www.theguardian.com

Dubai tanker bursts into flames after collision with container ship
telegraph.co.uk

Sea Piracy

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/piracy
_at_sea/index.html

Territorial claims
E. g. Arctic claims

forum.hyeclub.com

Climate change,
sustainable development,
etc.

The President of Palau, Johnson Toribiong, describes

the damage he is seeing as
a slow-moving tsunami.
http://www.businessinsider.com/islands-threatenedby-climate-change-2012-10

Thank you for your

attention!..