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© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
A. Del Vecchio, R. Virzo (eds.), Interpretations of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea by International Courts and Tribunals,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10773-4_1
The Contribution of Benedetto Conforti
to the International Law of the Sea
Giuseppe Cataldi
Abstract This article is focused on the scientific work of Benedetto Conforti on the
Law of the Sea, placing special emphasis on what is considered his “functionalist”
theory, a theory that was fully developed in the book on the legal regime of the seas
(“Il regime giuridico dei mari”, 1957) and then applied, through the decades, to
various phenomena of the Law of the Sea. Conforti reworked the concept of government power over marine spaces proposing it in terms of an extension of the power
of control of the coastal State in the pursuit of certain, specific interests, first identified in fishing, customs supervision, etc., and then in all attainable utilities in adjacent waters. Hence, an assertion of a “functional” control of coastal interests, and a
denial of a spatial control. Conforti developed practical applications of this theory
in parallel with other issues such as the relationship between the EEZ and previous
agreements, the possibility of extending the EEZ concept to the Mediterranean, the
principles relating to delimitation. Even in writing about this matter, Conforti was
consistent in using a method directed to identifying the legal problems and to attain
solutions based on a study of practice, with which he was constantly confronted,
using an approach that is particularly appropriate to the Law of the Sea. This was
perfectly consistent with his pragmatism, which led him to be often ready to revise
his views and to avoid purely theoretical discussions.
This Chapter is the English version of the article “Il contributo di Benedetto Conforti al diritto
internazionale del mare”, published in Rivista di diritto internazionale 2017, 100:98–111.
G. Cataldi (*)
University of Napoli “L’Orientale”, Department of Human and Social Sciences, Napoli, Italy
e-mail: gcataldi@unior.it
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
A. Del Vecchio, R. Virzo (eds.), Interpretations of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea by International Courts and Tribunals,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10773-4_1
The Contribution of Benedetto Conforti
to the International Law of the Sea
Giuseppe Cataldi
Abstract This article is focused on the scientific work of Benedetto Conforti on the
Law of the Sea, placing special emphasis on what is considered his “functionalist”
theory, a theory that was fully developed in the book on the legal regime of the seas
(“Il regime giuridico dei mari”, 1957) and then applied, through the decades, to
various phenomena of the Law of the Sea. Conforti reworked the concept of government power over marine spaces proposing it in terms of an extension of the power
of control of the coastal State in the pursuit of certain, specific interests, first identified in fishing, customs supervision, etc., and then in all attainable utilities in adjacent waters. Hence, an assertion of a “functional” control of coastal interests, and a
denial of a spatial control. Conforti developed practical applications of this theory
in parallel with other issues such as the relationship between the EEZ and previous
agreements, the possibility of extending the EEZ concept to the Mediterranean, the
principles relating to delimitation. Even in writing about this matter, Conforti was
consistent in using a method directed to identifying the legal problems and to attain
solutions based on a study of practice, with which he was constantly confronted,
using an approach that is particularly appropriate to the Law of the Sea. This was
perfectly consistent with his pragmatism, which led him to be often ready to revise
his views and to avoid purely theoretical discussions.
This Chapter is the English version of the article “Il contributo di Benedetto Conforti al diritto
internazionale del mare”, published in Rivista di diritto internazionale 2017, 100:98–111.
G. Cataldi (*)
University of Napoli “L’Orientale”, Department of Human and Social Sciences, Napoli, Italy
e-mail: gcataldi@unior.it