Course Code : LAW 404

Course Title : International law of the sea

Weekly Teaching Hour: 3-hours lecture per week, 1 (1-hour) tutorial every week

Who may enrol : Compulsory for Year 4 (Senior) LLB. Students

Prerequisites : N/A

Lecturer : To be announced on August 2020

Description : Each section of this course is designed to introduce you to different areas within the International Law of the Sea. Altogether the course is designed to provide you with a comprehensive picture from evolution to the current application of the law of the sea. Students will also be introduced to various competing arguments surrounding these laws and how the laws have been interpreted by various courts and tribunals.

After completing this course students will have a very good understanding of the current regime of the law governing human activity in the seas and oceans around the globe.

Section 1: Evolution of the law of the sea

Pre-UN developments

UNCLOS I

The four Geneva Conventions on the law of the sea

UNCLOS III

Section 2: Baselines, the territorial sea and the contiguous zone

The law on drawing baselines

The rights of states in their territorial sea

The right of innocent passage of other states

Rights and duties in the contiguous zone

Section 3: The continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone

Definition and drawing of the continental shelf

Rights of States in the continental shelf

The concept of the EEZ

Rights and duties of States in the EEZ and its delimitation

Section 4: The high seas, the sea-bed and dispute resolution

The notion of the freedoms of the high seas

The legal status of the sea-bed and its resources

The International Seabed Authority

Dispute settlement mechanism in the law of the sea

Recommended Textbook (s) and Supplementary Books :

  1. The International Law of the Sea 2nd Edition , by Donald R. Rothwell (Author), Tim Stephens (Author), Hart Publishing; ISBN-10: 1782256849, ISBN-13: 978-1782256847
  2. The International Law of the Sea, 3rd Edition , AUTHOR: Yoshifumi Tanaka, University of Copenhagen, Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 9781108440103
  3. Reading lists and other materials will be provided for students registered on the course via online by lecturer.

Course Assessment:

  • Class Participation 10%,

  • Unseen Examination 90% Each section will be assessed by a 45-minute – unseen written examination.

Attendance 95 % compulsory.