v
Preface
At the end of the 6th Ordinary Conference of the Association International du Droit
de la Mer, “International Tribunals and the United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea”, held at the University of Sannio (Benevento, Italy) on 3–4 November
2016, the speakers accepted our invitation to expand their in-depth presentations
into essays, in English or French, for publication in a collective volume.
Already during the planning of the conference, it seemed appropriate to us that
there should be a dialogue between international law experts on the decisions of
international courts and tribunals where questions have been raised about the interpretation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Indeed, to date, a significant number of disputes concerning the interpretation or
application of UNCLOS have been submitted, by virtue of Part XV of the
Convention, to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea or to ad hoc arbitral
tribunals. In addition, both the latter and other international courts (including, quite
often, the International Court of Justice) or quasi-judicial bodies (like the Appellate
Body of the World Trade Organization) have had occasion to rule on the matter,
albeit on the basis of legal instruments other than UNCLOS.
Thus, given such a rich jurisprudence, important issues relating to the interpretation of UNCLOS needed to be addressed and examined, including, among others,
the role of the interpretative criteria set out in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties, the interpretation of the rules of procedure of courts and tribunals
seized on the basis of UNCLOS and current jurisprudential trends, both in the relevant case law of each court/tribunal and with respect to specific aspects of the law
of the sea (marine environment protection, maritime delimitation, coastal State
rights in the different maritime zones, etc.).
It is our hope that this volume, by offering an account of the law and practice of
many international courts and tribunals and focusing on the various, multifaceted
aspects of UNCLOS interpretation as found in their case law, will be a useful working tool for academics and practitioners alike.
We would like to express our deep gratitude to all the distinguished authors of the
chapters. We also owe a special debt to Mario Gervasi and Andrea Insolia, who with
Preface
At the end of the 6th Ordinary Conference of the Association International du Droit
de la Mer, “International Tribunals and the United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea”, held at the University of Sannio (Benevento, Italy) on 3–4 November
2016, the speakers accepted our invitation to expand their in-depth presentations
into essays, in English or French, for publication in a collective volume.
Already during the planning of the conference, it seemed appropriate to us that
there should be a dialogue between international law experts on the decisions of
international courts and tribunals where questions have been raised about the interpretation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Indeed, to date, a significant number of disputes concerning the interpretation or
application of UNCLOS have been submitted, by virtue of Part XV of the
Convention, to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea or to ad hoc arbitral
tribunals. In addition, both the latter and other international courts (including, quite
often, the International Court of Justice) or quasi-judicial bodies (like the Appellate
Body of the World Trade Organization) have had occasion to rule on the matter,
albeit on the basis of legal instruments other than UNCLOS.
Thus, given such a rich jurisprudence, important issues relating to the interpretation of UNCLOS needed to be addressed and examined, including, among others,
the role of the interpretative criteria set out in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties, the interpretation of the rules of procedure of courts and tribunals
seized on the basis of UNCLOS and current jurisprudential trends, both in the relevant case law of each court/tribunal and with respect to specific aspects of the law
of the sea (marine environment protection, maritime delimitation, coastal State
rights in the different maritime zones, etc.).
It is our hope that this volume, by offering an account of the law and practice of
many international courts and tribunals and focusing on the various, multifaceted
aspects of UNCLOS interpretation as found in their case law, will be a useful working tool for academics and practitioners alike.
We would like to express our deep gratitude to all the distinguished authors of the
chapters. We also owe a special debt to Mario Gervasi and Andrea Insolia, who with