sufficient. Yet, let me also mention the so-called ‘free riders’. Since there are only
very limited ways to enforce international agreements, states are also able not to
follow specific provisions. That means even though they might be party to a specific
treaty, they still don’t comply with it. All international legally-binding treaties are
guided by the principle of pacta tertiis nec nocent nec prosunt. This complicated
Latin phrase translates into: a treaty bind the parties and only the parties. That means
that every state that is not party to a specific treaty is not legally bound to it.
With this very short introduction to public international law may give you an idea
of the basic principles that are relevant for this book. Let us now turn to international
environmental law to which international marine mammal law first and foremost
belongs. Of course, since marine mammals live in the sea, it is also the law of the sea
which is a crucial element of international marine mammal law, but in the interest of
scope, I will abstain from an introduction to the law of the sea since its main issues of
relevance will be dealt with in Sect. 4.2.3 anyway. But I would recommend
Churchill and Lowe’s excellent treatise on the law of the sea for more information.
2
Let me also make clear that the branch of ‘international marine mammal law’ does
not exist as such. It is a term which I use throughout this book in order to describe the
bodies of law (legally binding or legally non-binding) which in one way or the other
deal with marine mammals. By and large, as said above, this branch comprises legal
regimes from international environmental law. Others would use the term ‘international conservation law’
3 to describe those regimes that deal with the conservation
and sustainable use of biodiversity. For those interested in international environmental law in general, I can highly recommend Timo Koivurova’s Introduction to
International Environmental Law.
4
Briefly summarised, international environmental law in its modern form saw its
emergence in the 1960s with the so-called ‘global awakening’ on environmental
issues. Key for this development was the publication of the book Silent Spring by
Rachael Carson in 1962.
5 This book deals with the interrelation between environmental degradation and the use of pesticides in the United States. The ripple effect
was that pretty much over night the awareness of human-caused damage to the
environment had entered public discourse. While at first the approach was inherently
human-centred (anthropocentric), over time it became more and more interested in
the value of the environment and its components itself. This biocentric approach
vis-à-vis anthropocentric perceptions of environmental protection constitute a significant normative and ideological divergence in current environmental law regimes.
While Carson’s book triggered the modern version of international environmental
law, this is not to say that after its publication the first conservation regimes were
adopted. Far from it. As we will see, already in the nineteenth and early twentieth
century international cooperation existed for the protection of specific environments
2 Churchill and Lowe (1999).
3 Couzens (2013).
4 Koivurova (2014).
5 Carson (1962/1994).
6
1 Why an Introduction to International Marine Mammal Law?
very limited ways to enforce international agreements, states are also able not to
follow specific provisions. That means even though they might be party to a specific
treaty, they still don’t comply with it. All international legally-binding treaties are
guided by the principle of pacta tertiis nec nocent nec prosunt. This complicated
Latin phrase translates into: a treaty bind the parties and only the parties. That means
that every state that is not party to a specific treaty is not legally bound to it.
With this very short introduction to public international law may give you an idea
of the basic principles that are relevant for this book. Let us now turn to international
environmental law to which international marine mammal law first and foremost
belongs. Of course, since marine mammals live in the sea, it is also the law of the sea
which is a crucial element of international marine mammal law, but in the interest of
scope, I will abstain from an introduction to the law of the sea since its main issues of
relevance will be dealt with in Sect. 4.2.3 anyway. But I would recommend
Churchill and Lowe’s excellent treatise on the law of the sea for more information.
2
Let me also make clear that the branch of ‘international marine mammal law’ does
not exist as such. It is a term which I use throughout this book in order to describe the
bodies of law (legally binding or legally non-binding) which in one way or the other
deal with marine mammals. By and large, as said above, this branch comprises legal
regimes from international environmental law. Others would use the term ‘international conservation law’
3 to describe those regimes that deal with the conservation
and sustainable use of biodiversity. For those interested in international environmental law in general, I can highly recommend Timo Koivurova’s Introduction to
International Environmental Law.
4
Briefly summarised, international environmental law in its modern form saw its
emergence in the 1960s with the so-called ‘global awakening’ on environmental
issues. Key for this development was the publication of the book Silent Spring by
Rachael Carson in 1962.
5 This book deals with the interrelation between environmental degradation and the use of pesticides in the United States. The ripple effect
was that pretty much over night the awareness of human-caused damage to the
environment had entered public discourse. While at first the approach was inherently
human-centred (anthropocentric), over time it became more and more interested in
the value of the environment and its components itself. This biocentric approach
vis-à-vis anthropocentric perceptions of environmental protection constitute a significant normative and ideological divergence in current environmental law regimes.
While Carson’s book triggered the modern version of international environmental
law, this is not to say that after its publication the first conservation regimes were
adopted. Far from it. As we will see, already in the nineteenth and early twentieth
century international cooperation existed for the protection of specific environments
2 Churchill and Lowe (1999).
3 Couzens (2013).
4 Koivurova (2014).
5 Carson (1962/1994).
6
1 Why an Introduction to International Marine Mammal Law?