Chapter 1
Introduction
Giuseppe Cataldi
Abstract AssIDMer was established, in 2001, exactly for the purpose of promoting
research activities on issues relating to the Law of the Sea by academics, civil
servants and legal practitioners. It is an honor, therefore, for its President, to make
some general points on the topic of “Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea”,
which are meant to constitute a basic background premise to the chapters that follow.
First of all, the maritime issues herein discussed illustrate the vitality of the Law of
the Sea, even if an element that can be considered common to many current issues of
this topic is the rapid aging of international legal instruments available. Secondly, a
free and open maritime order based on the rule of law must be considered as a
cornerstone for the stability and prosperity of the international community; this
implies that the old unilateralist ethics of the “creeping jurisdiction” must today
give way to the demands of co-operation imperatives that are functionally necessary
for the common interests of the international community. Finally, protection of
marine environment and resources is an emerging key priority at global level; in
particular, it has to be stressed that the deep sea represents the world’s largest
environment: though largely unexplored, it provides for one of the highest levels
of biodiversity on our planet and for a wide variety of ecosystem services.
It is an honor for the President of the “International Association of the Law of the
Sea” (AssIDMer), to write a brief Introduction to this volume, in which most of the
chapters enclosed reproduce the papers submitted at the Association’s seventh
ordinary Colloquium, which took place in Lisbon in September 2018.
The intention, in the following pages, is simply to make some general points on
the topic of “Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea” which came to mind after
reading the thorough and interesting chapters herein contained. The general points,
which are meant to constitute a basic background premise to the specific developments that will be provided below in the volume, are as follows:
G. Cataldi (*)
University of Naples “L’Orientale”, Department of Human and Social Sciences, Napoli, Italy
e-mail: gcataldi@unior.it
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. C. Ribeiro et al. (eds.), Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42671-2_1
1
Introduction
Giuseppe Cataldi
Abstract AssIDMer was established, in 2001, exactly for the purpose of promoting
research activities on issues relating to the Law of the Sea by academics, civil
servants and legal practitioners. It is an honor, therefore, for its President, to make
some general points on the topic of “Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea”,
which are meant to constitute a basic background premise to the chapters that follow.
First of all, the maritime issues herein discussed illustrate the vitality of the Law of
the Sea, even if an element that can be considered common to many current issues of
this topic is the rapid aging of international legal instruments available. Secondly, a
free and open maritime order based on the rule of law must be considered as a
cornerstone for the stability and prosperity of the international community; this
implies that the old unilateralist ethics of the “creeping jurisdiction” must today
give way to the demands of co-operation imperatives that are functionally necessary
for the common interests of the international community. Finally, protection of
marine environment and resources is an emerging key priority at global level; in
particular, it has to be stressed that the deep sea represents the world’s largest
environment: though largely unexplored, it provides for one of the highest levels
of biodiversity on our planet and for a wide variety of ecosystem services.
It is an honor for the President of the “International Association of the Law of the
Sea” (AssIDMer), to write a brief Introduction to this volume, in which most of the
chapters enclosed reproduce the papers submitted at the Association’s seventh
ordinary Colloquium, which took place in Lisbon in September 2018.
The intention, in the following pages, is simply to make some general points on
the topic of “Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea” which came to mind after
reading the thorough and interesting chapters herein contained. The general points,
which are meant to constitute a basic background premise to the specific developments that will be provided below in the volume, are as follows:
G. Cataldi (*)
University of Naples “L’Orientale”, Department of Human and Social Sciences, Napoli, Italy
e-mail: gcataldi@unior.it
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. C. Ribeiro et al. (eds.), Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42671-2_1
1