93
© 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_6
The Contribution of the ITLOS
to Strengthening the Regime
for the Protection of the Marine
Environment
Alexander Proelss
Abstract This article aims at providing an overview of the jurisprudence of the
ITLOS concerning the development of environmental principles applicable to the
protection and preservation of the marine environment. It illustrates that the relevant
case-law is characterised by an increasingly dynamic understanding of the obligations codified in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In particular, the ITLOS has substantiated Part XII UNCLOS by accepting the validity of, and
assigning central importance to, the precautionary approach/principle under the
regime of the Convention. It has furthermore interpreted the pertinent duties in
terms of due diligence obligations. The article concludes that the approach taken by
the Tribunal constitutes the most promising way to operationalize the environmental
principles, as it is not possible to define the substantive content of the duty to protect
and preserve the marine environment in a comprehensive and generally accepted
manner. At the same time, the integral approach pursued by the ITLOS as well as by
the Annex VII Tribunals must not go beyond the limits of their jurisdiction as
defined by the Convention.
This article is an updated and extended version of a book chapter entitled “Environmental
Principles and ITLOS”, which was published in the volume “Principles of Environmental Law”
(L. Krämer and E. Orlando eds., 2018) of the Elgar Encyclopaedia of Environmental Law,
pp. 568–577.
A. Proelss (*)
University of Hamburg, Faculty of Law, Hamburg, Germany
e-mail: alexander.proelss@uni-hamburg.de
© 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_6
The Contribution of the ITLOS
to Strengthening the Regime
for the Protection of the Marine
Environment
Alexander Proelss
Abstract This article aims at providing an overview of the jurisprudence of the
ITLOS concerning the development of environmental principles applicable to the
protection and preservation of the marine environment. It illustrates that the relevant
case-law is characterised by an increasingly dynamic understanding of the obligations codified in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In particular, the ITLOS has substantiated Part XII UNCLOS by accepting the validity of, and
assigning central importance to, the precautionary approach/principle under the
regime of the Convention. It has furthermore interpreted the pertinent duties in
terms of due diligence obligations. The article concludes that the approach taken by
the Tribunal constitutes the most promising way to operationalize the environmental
principles, as it is not possible to define the substantive content of the duty to protect
and preserve the marine environment in a comprehensive and generally accepted
manner. At the same time, the integral approach pursued by the ITLOS as well as by
the Annex VII Tribunals must not go beyond the limits of their jurisdiction as
defined by the Convention.
This article is an updated and extended version of a book chapter entitled “Environmental
Principles and ITLOS”, which was published in the volume “Principles of Environmental Law”
(L. Krämer and E. Orlando eds., 2018) of the Elgar Encyclopaedia of Environmental Law,
pp. 568–577.
A. Proelss (*)
University of Hamburg, Faculty of Law, Hamburg, Germany
e-mail: alexander.proelss@uni-hamburg.de