Adding Fuel to the Fire?

Bofaxe

Adding Fuel to the Fire?

05.05.2026

Jannik Neumann

Whenever incidents surrounding naval operations, particularly naval warfare, come up in recent discussions, their lack of impact on legal development tends to be almost lamented. In this regard, the early...

Article

Iran’s Legal Strategy in Hormuz

16.04.2026

Soheil Golchin

Geography remains Iran’s greatest wartime advantage and a key strategic asset in the ongoing 2026 conflict. The country’s rugged terrain, extensive coastline, and strategic depth in the Persian Gulf shape...

Article

Gendering the Law of the Sea

03.04.2026

Vashti Ortego

Over the past two years, international courts have entered the climate arena with unusual force. Advisory opinions from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Court...

Article

Turning the Tide on Trawls

20.12.2025

Davit Khachatryan

Bottom trawling, a fishing method that tows heavy, weighted nets and trawl doors along the seabed to catch demersal species, does more than destroy and flatten benthic habitats: by repeatedly...

Article

How ITLOS Won the Battle for Advisory Jurisdiction

08.12.2025

Saba Ishkhnelidze

A decade ago, in 2015, ITLOS delivered its first-ever advisory opinion as a full tribunal in the Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC). By...

Article

Veto under Annex I of the CLCS Rules of Procedure

26.11.2025

Bjørn Kunoy

The demonstration of entitlement to outer continental shelf, ie. areas of continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M) distance from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea...

Article

Fragmentation Remains Out There

19.11.2025

Akram AbdelMonem

In her opinion, Marìa Santillán argued that the recent Advisory Opinions of ITLOS, IACtHR, and the ICJ “mark a definitive shift from legal fragmentation toward a harmonized framework for state...

Bofaxe

Unanchoring Universality

31.10.2025

Konstantin Pfaff

Since early September 2025, the United States (US) has been attacking vessels allegedly carrying drugs, killing at least 57 people to date. These extrajudicial killings raise numerous questions under both...

Article

Climate Change, Human Rights, and the Law of the Sea

08.10.2025

Recent Advisory Opinions from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) mark a...

Article

Flying Too Low?

24.09.2025

Pornomo Rovan Astri Yoga

Artificial islands have become central flashpoints in maritime disputes, particularly in the South China Sea. Their strategic use by coastal states raises difficult questions under international law, especially regarding the...

Symposium
Systemic Impacts and Structural Shifts: Climate Change and the Role of the ICJ Advisory Opinion

Climate Change Law and the Law of the Sea

07.08.2025

Rozemarijn Roland Holst

From among the rich pickings of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) unanimous advisory opinion on climate change, this post focusses specifically on the relationship between international climate change law...

Article

A New Liability Frontier?

05.08.2025

Tajra Smajic Gustavo Leite Neves da Luz

On 24 April 2025, the United States (U.S.) White House issued an Executive Order titled “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources” (the Executive Order) aimed at accelerating the development...

Article

A Kantian Critique of SS and Others v Italy

15.07.2025

Aravind Ganesh

Last month, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously dismissed an application by survivors of a Mediterranean ‘pullback’ operation. Although Italian coast guard officials were the first to receive the...

Article

The Long Road to Exploit Deep Sea Minerals

14.07.2025

Niels-Juergen Seeberg-Elverfeldt Andreas Kaede

The Rules to exploit minerals from the deep seabed outside national jurisdiction are currently drafted under the auspices of the International Seabed Authority (ISA). There is, however, continuous disagreement between...

Article

Forgotten Crisis in a World in Turmoil

15.04.2025

Mette-Luise Hellerich

While many in Europe are focused on the Russo-Ukrainian War, or perhaps on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and eroding transatlantic relations, one major contemporary issue has been left out of public...

Article

Draft Rules on Deep Seabed Mining in a Critical Phase

11.03.2025

Andreas Kaede Niels-Juergen Seeberg-Elverfeldt

The “Regulations on Exploitation of Mineral Resources in the Area” (hereafter: “Exploitation Rules”) are currently drafted under the auspices of the International Seabed Authority (ISA). It was established by the...

Article

Seabed Warfare

24.01.2025

Heiko Meiertöns

Countless submarine cables are the communicative backbone of a globalized world of states. Today they form a “new front line”. The same can be said of other elements of critical...

Article

Oh Captain, whose Captain?

31.10.2024

Nikolai Ott

Als eines der zentralen Prinzipien des Seevölkerrechts regelt das Flaggenstaatsprinzip die Verantwortung über Schiffe auf See. Nach Art. 5 (1) des Internationalen Abkommens über die Hohe See von 1958 (IAHS)...

Article

Statt dem Keil der Selbstverteidigung das feine Messer der Nothilfe

10.07.2024

Nikolai Ott

Die Pflicht zur Hilfeleistung auf See ist eine seit langem etablierte Regel des Seevölkerrechts, die auf der zentralen Einsicht beruht, dass es auch auf See das Leben zu schützen gilt....

Media

The ITLOS Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and the Law of the Sea – What follows from the Qualification of GHG Emissions as Marine Pollution?

10.06.2024

Nele Matz-Lück

The ITLOS Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and the Law of the Sea from 21 May 2024 is a landmark decision. Not only does the ITLOS define GHG emissions from...