With its national strength, the United States is, more often than not, a major State initiating the making of important international multilateral treaties and shaping the final outcome by wielding its influence in the negotiation processes. Nevertheless, three major international multilateral treaties concluded in three different domains all appear the same situation in which the U.S. participated actively in the negotiations but ended up rejecting to sign or ratify due to their inconformities with American ¡§national interests.¡¨ The purpose of this thesis is to examine the American proposals and interventions made in the negotiating processes of three important international multilateral treaties, i.e., the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Kyoto Protocol and Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, so as to understand American negotiation stances as well as the issues to which the U.S. attached importance to and the derive the substantive contents of the ¡§national interests¡¨ that the U.S. held dear. Furthermore, this thesis takes one step further to analyze who were the actors that shaped and defined the ¡§national interests¡¨ which the U.S. valued and held tight.

The once pristine and rich marine environment of the South China Sea is degrading at an alarming rate due to the rapid socioeconomic development of the region. Despite this, and because mainly of complicated sovereignty and maritime boundary disputes, coastal States have not been able to develop effective regional cooperation to safeguard the shared marine environment. This dissertation, “Towards a Network of Marine Protected Areas in the South China Sea: Legal and Political Perspectives”, researches legal and political measures to support the development of a network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea. Such a network, if properly developed, would not only help to protect the marine environment and resources of the region but also contribute to lower the tension among its coastal States. These measures should be developed in accordance with international law, based on the specific geopolitical context of the South China Sea region and take into consideration experiences in developing regional networks of marine protected areas from other marine regions. Consequently, three optional categories of measures for the development of a network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea are suggested at the end. They include national-focused measures; measures to enhance the regional cooperation; and measures to build a regime for marine protected areas and network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea. These measures could be taken alternatively or on a step-by-step basis.

Regional organisations have often played a catalytical role in developing regional ocean regimes that directly pertain to the peculiar needs and circumstances of a given region. As a response to the challenges imposed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the island States of the South Pacific region established the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency, with the specific mandate to assist them manage the enormous tuna resource of the region. The thesis seeks to ascertain the extent to which those needs have been satisfied. The thesis begins with the hypothesis that the Forum Fisheries Agency has in fact fulfilled those needs. The analysis is based on inferences which are drawn from the functions and responsibilities of the Forum Fisheries Agency, and certain significant legal developments it has helped spawn. The thesis does not engage in a cost/benefit evaluation of the Forum Fisheries Agency because that is an issue best left to the purview of individual member States to determine. Two conclusions are drawn from the analysis. First, the Forum Fisheries Agency has met the needs of the island States. Secondly, through the Forum Fisheries Agency, the island States are implementing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

In recent years several factors changed the importance of the Arctic in international relations. Firstly, the rapid melting of Arctic ice cover opened potential access to vast natural resources within the Arctic Ocean seabed. It is estimated that the Arctic may contain one quarter of world's undiscovered reserves of oil and gas. Secondly, the water ways along the Russian and Canadian northern coasts became ice-free, although so far just for few days every year. Should the Arctic Ocean continue to melt, then in several decades the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage could become navigable for greater part of the year. This would shorten the journey distance from Europe to Asia by as much as forty percent, thereby cutting travel times and shipping costs. Finally, as the Arctic does not belong to any single country, there has been an increasing interest among the Arctic rim states, which have been working on delineating their maritime boundaries in order to ensure their territorial claims. This process has proceeded in accordance with the international legal framework as established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Coastal states are entitled to a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around their coastline. However, should they be able to prove...

La délimitation des frontières maritimes revêt une importance capitale pour un grand nombre États, que cela soit d’un oint de vue symbolique, culturel, stratégique ou économique. Néanmoins, le droit international conventionnel reste au mieux largement ambigu, au pire entièrement silencieux sur la question de savoir quelles sont les méthodes précises pour résoudre les éventuels différends entre États pouvant surgir lors de la délimitation de leurs espaces maritimes. Face à ces ambiguïtés et silences conventionnels et face aussi à une pratique étatique incohérente et dépourvue d’une opinio juris, c’est principalement dans leur propre vision que les juridictions internationales ont puisé la règle de l’équidistance/circonstances pertinentes, en vertu de laquelle toute délimitation maritime décidée, quel que soit l’espace maritime considéré, y inclus le plateau continental étendu, et quelle que soit la configuration côtière, débute par la construction d’une ligne d’équidistance provisoire. Cette ligne pourra éventuellement être modifiée pour tenir compte descirconstances particulières de chaque affaire dans une deuxième phase de la délimitation. En dépit de la consécration claire et – une première dans l’histoire de la CIJ – unanime de la règle de l’équidistance/circonstances pertinentes dans l’affaire de la Délimitation maritime en mer Noire en 2009, de nombreuses zones d’ombre et difficultés d’ordre technique existent dans sa mise en œuvre pratique par les cours et tribunaux internationaux, notamment en ce qui concerne le risque d’une part trop importante de subjectivité, voire d’arbitraire, particulièrement en ce qui concerne le choix des points de base et le rôle joué par la proportionnalité. De même, afin de garantir une « matérialisation » efficace de la frontière maritime décidée sur le « terrain », une collaboration étroite entre le juriste d’une part et le cartographe, l’hydrographe, le géologue et le géographe d’autre part s’impose. / The delimitation of maritime boundaries is of utmost importance for many states, whether on a symbolic, cultural, strategic or economic level. Nevertheless, international treaty law is at best largely ambiguous, at worst entirely silent as to what the precise methods for resolving possible disputes that might surface during the delimitation process are. Confrontedwith these ambiguities and silences, but also with incoherent state practice devoid of any opinio juris, it is primarily from their own vision that international jurisdictions have drawn the equidistance/relevant circumstances rule, according to which, regardless of the maritime zone concerned, including the extended continental shelf, and regardless of the coastalconfiguration, every decided maritime delimitation begins with the establishment of a provisional equidistance line. This line can later be modified in a second phase of the delimitation to take into account the particular circumstances of each case. In spite of the unequivocal and – a premiere in the history of the Court – unanimous consecration of theequidistance/relevant circumstances rule by the ICJ in the Delimitation in the Black Sea case in 2009, numerous unsettled areas and technical difficulties remain in the delimitation process, notably regarding the risk of too great a degree of subjectivity, if not arbitrariness, particularly regarding the choice of the base points and the role to be played by proportionality. Likewise, in order to guarantee a smooth “materialisation” of the border on the “ground”, a close collaboration between the jurist on the one hand and the cartographer, geologist, hydrologist and geographer on the other hand is indispensable.

In the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the environmental protection of the marine environment was first addressed in a comprehensive manner on an international level. However, the Convention distinguishes between four different sorts of pollution depending on which source the pollution originates from. Still, one of these sources play a more crucial role in the protection of the marine environment than the other since that source is estimated to stand for 80 percent of all the marine pollution; namely marine pollution from land-based sources. As the throw-away culture has led to products being disposed of at a faster rate than ever before, in particular plastic products, the amount of land-based debris has also substantially increased over the last decades. This increased disposal rate of products in combination with poor waste treatment has consequently led to many kinds of wastes ending up in the ocean and causing severe harm, not only to the marine environment and its living species, but also to humans that eat the fish and use the many other ecosystem services of the Sea. In this thesis, some prominent international conventions on marine pollution from land-based sources are examined; namely the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, as well as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. To achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 14.1 to significantly reduce marine pollution from land-based sources by 2025, this thesis claims that international laws addressing this sort of pollution need to be implemented. Moreover, this thesis rests on the belief that regional implementation is a crucial component in making states align with international law. However, while regional implementation has been ambitious in the European Union Law, many regions still lack enforceable frameworks that aim to reduce and prevent marine pollution from land-based sources.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides an opportunity for qualifying coastal signatory states to claim extended maritime estate. The opportunity to claim rests on the precept that in certain cases a continental shelf extends beyond the traditionally demarcated two hundred nautical mile (200M) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) mark. In these cases a successful claim results in states having sovereign rights to the living and non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil, as well as the sedentary species, of the area claimed. Where the continental shelf extends beyond the 200M mark, the Foot of the Continental Slope (FoS) has to be determined as one of the qualifying criteria. Article 76 of UNCLOS de nes the FoS as ". . . the point of maximum change in the gradient at its base." Currently Caris Lots is the most widely used software which incorporates public domain data to determine the FoS as a step towards defining the offshore extent of an extended continental shelf. In this software, existing methods to compute the FoS are often subjective, typically involving an operator choosing the best perceived foot point during consideration of a two dimensional profile of the continental slope. These foot points are then joined by straight lines to form the foot line to be used in the desk top study (feasibility study). The purpose of this thesis is to establish a semi-automated and mathematically based three dimensional method for determination of the FoS using South African data as a case study. Firstly, a general background of UNCLOS is given (with emphasis on Article 76), including a brief discussion of the geological factors that influence the characteristics of a continental shelf and thus factors that could influence the determination of the FoS. Secondly, a mathematical method for determination of the surfaces of extremal curvature (on three dimensional data), originally proposed by Vanicek and Ou in 1994, is detailed and applied to two smooth, hypothetical sample surfaces. A discussion of the bathymetric data to be used for application introduces the factors to be taken into account when using extensive survey data as well as methods to process the raw data for use. The method is then applied to two sets of gridded bathymetric data of differing resolution for four separate regions around the South African coast. The ridges formed on the resulting surfaces of maximum curvature are then traced in order to obtain a foot line definition for each region and each resolution. The results obtained from application of the method are compared with example foot points provided by the subjective two dimensional method of computation within the Caris Lots software suite. A comparison of the results for the different resolutions of data is included to provide insight as to the effectiveness of the method with differing spatial coarseness of data. Finally, an indication of further work is provided in the conclusion to this thesis, in the form of a number of recommendations for possible adaptations of the mathematical and tracing methods, and improvements thereof. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Verenigde Nasies se Konvensie oor die Wet van die See (UNCLOS) bied 'n geleentheid aan kwalifiserende state wat ondertekenaars van die Konvensie is om aanspraak te maak op uitgebreide maritieme gebied. Die geleentheid om op uitgebreide gebied aanspraak te maak berus op die veronderstelling dat 'n kontinentale tafel in sekere gevalle tot buite die tradisioneel afgebakende 200 seemyl eksklusiewe ekonomiese zone (EEZ) strek. In sulke gevalle het 'n suksesvolle aanspraak die gevolg dat die staat soewereine reg oor die lewende en nie-lewende bronne van die seevloer en ondergrond verkry, sowel as die inwonende spesies van die gebied buite die EEZ waarop aanspraak gemaak word. Die voet van die kontinentale tafel (FoS) moet vasgestel word as een van die bepalende kriteria vir afbakening van die aanspraak waar die kontinentale tafel tot buite die EEZ strek. Artikel 76 van UNCLOS defineer die FoS as ". . . die punt van maksimale verandering in die helling by sy basis." Die mees algemeen gebruikte rekenaar sagteware wat openbare domein data aanwend om die voet van die helling te bepaal, is tans "Caris Lots." Die metodes wat in die program gebruik word om die voet van die helling te bepaal, is dikwels subjektief en berus tipies op 'n operateur se keuse van die beste afgeskatte punt van die voet van die helling uit 'n oorweging van 'n twee dimensionele profiel van die kontinentale tafel. Die berekende voet-punte word dan deur middel van reguit lyne verbind om 'n hellingsvoetlyn te vorm. Hierdie voetlyn kan dan in die Suid-Afrikaanse lessenaarstudie (doenlikheidstudie) oor die bepaling van die voet van die kontinentale tafel gebruik word. Die doel van hierdie verhandeling is om 'n semi-outomatiese en wiskundig gebaseerde drie-dimensionele metode te beskryf vir die vasstelling van die FoS, deur as 'n gevallestudie van Suid-Afrikaanse data gebruik te maak. 'n Algemene agtergrond van UNCLOS, met beklemtoning van Artikel 76, word eerstens gegee. 'n Kort bespreking van die geologiese faktore wat die kontinentale tafel beïnvloed en wat gevolglik 'n invloed kan hê op die vasstelling van die voet van die helling, is ingesluit. Tweedens word 'n wiskundige metode, wat oorspronklik in 1994 deur Vanicek en Ou voorgestel is, vir bepaling van die oppervlaktes van maksimale kromming (gebaseer op drie-dimensionele data) in detail bespreek en 'n voorbeeld van 'n toepassing op twee gladde, denkbeeldige oppervaktes word beskryf. Die faktore wat in ag geneem moet word wanneer omvattende dieptemeting data gebruik word, en die metodes wat gebruik word om die rou data te verwerk, word ingelei deur 'n bespreking van die aard van die dieptemeting data wat gebruik is. Die metode word dan toegepas op twee stelle geruite dieptemeting data van verskillende resolusies vir vier afsonderlike streke om die Suid-Afrikaanse kus. Die riwwe wat op die resulterende oppervlaktes van maksimale kromming gevorm word, word dan nagetrek ten einde 'n lyndefinisie van die voet van die kontinentale tafel vir elke streek teen elke resolusie te bepaal. Die resultate verkry uit toepassings van die metode word vergelyk met hellingsvoetpunte soos bepaal deur die subjektiewe twee dimensionele berekeningsmetode in die "Caris Lots" rekenaar-program. 'n Vergelyking van die resultate vir die verskillende data resolusies word ingesluit om die doeltreffendheid van die metode met betrekking tot die hantering van verskillende ruimtelike data resolusies te ondersoek. 'n Aanduiding van verdere werk, bestaande uit 'n aantal aanbevelings vir moontlike aanpassings en verbeterings van die wiskundige en natrek metodes, word ten slotte in die gevolgtrekking van die verhandeling verskaf.

Depuis la création de l'Union soviétique jusqu'à sa dissolution, la mer Caspienne appartenait à l'Iran et à l'URSS, qui constituaient ses deux seuls États riverains. Ces derniers avaient convenu de gérer la Caspienne «en commun », selon un régime de condominium, dans deux accords bilatéraux signés en 1921 et 1940. Cependant, après le démembrement de l'Union soviétique en 1991, trois nouveaux États indépendants et riverains de la Caspienne (1'Azerbaïdjan, le Kazakhstan et le Turkménistan) se sont ajoutés à l'équation, et ont exigé une révision du régime juridique conventionnel en vigueur. Ainsi, des négociations multilatérales ont été entamées, lesquelles ont mis en relief plusieurs questions juridiques faisant l'objet d'interprétation divergente: Le régime juridique conventionnel de 1921 et de 1940 (établissant une gestion en commun) est-il toujours valable dans la nouvelle conjoncture? Les nouveaux États riverains successeurs de l'Union soviétique sont-ils tenus de respecter les engagements de l'ex-URSS envers l'Iran quant à la Caspienne? Quel est l'ordre juridique applicable à la mer Caspienne? Serait-ce le droit de la mer (UNCLOS) ou le droit des traités? La notion de rebus sic stantibus - soit le « changement fondamental de circonstances» - aurait-elle pour effet l'annulation des traités de 1921 et de 1940? Les divisions administratives internes effectuées en 1970 par l'URSS pour délimiter la mer sont-elles valides aujourd'hui, en tant que frontières maritimes? Dans la présente recherche, nous prendrons position en faveur de la validité du régime juridique établi par les traités de 1921 et de 1940 et nous soutiendrons la position des États qui revendiquent la transmission des engagements de l'ex-URSS envers l'Iran aux nouveaux États riverains. Pour cela nous effectuerons une étude complète de la situation juridique de la mer Caspienne en droit international et traiterons chacune des questions mentionnées ci-dessus. Le droit des traités, le droit de la succession d'États, la Convention des Nations Unies du droit de la mer de 1982, la doctrine, la jurisprudence de la C.I.J et les positions des États riverains de la Caspienne à l'ONU constituent nos sources pour l'analyse détaillée de cette situation. / From the creation of the Soviet Union to its dissolution, the Caspian Sea belonged to Iran and the USSR, which were its only two littoral States. The Caspian was, during this period, governed by two bilateral agreements signed in 1921 and 1940, in which the two States had agreed to “jointly” manage the Sea. However, after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 gave birth to three newly independent States (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) with coast lines along the Caspian Sea, these three new actors demanded with insistence that the existing treaty-based regime be revised. During the course of the ensuing negotiations, several legal questions have been raised: Is the treaty-based legal regime established by the 1921 and 1940 treaties still valid in the new regional configuration? Are the newly independent States, successors to the USSR, obliged to respect the former Union's legal obligations towards Iran? If not, what is the appropriate legal regime applicable to the Caspian? Is it the law of the Sea (as defined mostly in the UNCLOS) or the law of treaties? Considering the new regional configuration, does the concept of rebus sic stantibus - or the fundamental change of circumstances - invalidate the 1921 and 1940 treaties? Will the internal administrative divisions established in 1970 by the former Soviet Union with regards to the Caspian become - de jure - the new international maritime frontiers? In this thesis, we argue in favour of the validity of the legal regime established by the 1921 and 1940 treaties and we support the position of those States which assert the transmissibility of the obligations of the former Union to the newly independent littoral States. In doing so, we will provide a complete analysis of the legal dilemma at hand and suggest appropriate analytical answers to the aforementioned questions. The law of treaties, the law of the succession of States, the 1982 United Nations' Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), doctrinal commentaries, case law of the I.C.J, and official U.N documents revealing the positions of each littoral States will be thoroughly conversed in this regard.

The title of this diploma thesis is "Provisional Measure in International Procedural Law". The purpose of provisional measures is a preservation of the rights of each party pending the settlement of the dispute which means pending the definitive decision in the case. It helps to protect the object of the litigation and to maintain in its state as it existed on the initiation of the proceedings. Furthermore, the function is a preservation of the integrity of the final judgment and the prevention of violent self-help. I chose the issue of provisional measures as a topic of my diploma thesis because it is an essential instrument to enable any international court or tribunal to perform its functions. The aim of the thesis is to analyze law containing provisions relating to order of provisional measures and practice of particular international courts and tribunals. The diploma thesis is divided into five chapters. First chapter defines provisional measure and explains its using in International Procedural Law. Second chapter focuses on the exercise of provisional measures in international arbitration especially in respect to proceedings before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. On the other hand, third part deals with proceeding concerning provisional measures before two...

Le régime juridique relatif à la conservation de la biodiversité dans les zones maritimes internationales est actuellement au cœur des discussions entre États au sein des Nations Unies. En effet, la Convention des Nations Unies sur le droit de la mer, véritable «Constitution des océans», ne permet pas d’assurer une conservation effective de la biodiversité dans la Zone et en haute mer. En 1982, lorsqu’elle a été adoptée, la notion de «biodiversité» n’existait pas encore, la Convention s’y référant alors uniquement de manière indirecte. Certaines ressources comme les ressources génétiques marines ne sont ainsi pas couvertes par la Convention, de même que certaines activités, ou outils de protection tels que les aires marines protégées. De plus, la division des océans en différentes zones aux régimes juridiques distincts et fragmentés ne permet pas aux États de mettre en œuvre leurs obligations conventionnelles de manière efficace. L’adoption d’un nouvel accord de mise en œuvre de la Convention dans le cadre des Nations Unies pourrait permettre, dans une certaine mesure, de pallier ces diverses insuffisances. Cependant, l’issue des négociations reste encore incertaine. Finalement, il conviendra d’observer que seule une approche plus globale, fondée sur la reconnaissance de l’existence d’une obligation générale de conservation de la biodiversité dans les zones maritimes internationales, pourrait permettre de dépasser les limites inhérentes à une approche exclusivement spatiale de la conservation de la biodiversité dans des espaces communs à tous les États, aux régimes distincts voire opposés. / Marine biodiversity conservation beyond national jurisdiction is currently subject of discussions in the United Nations. Indeed, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the «Constitution of the Oceans», is not sufficient to protect marine biodiversity efficiently, in the high seas and the Area. In 1982, the word «biodiversity» did not exist yet, so the Convention only refers to marine pollution or biological resources conservation or management. Some resources, as marine genetic resources, are not covered by the Convention, as well as certain activities or conservation and management tools like marine protected areas. The division of the oceans in different maritime zones, moreover, with distinct and fragmented legal regimes, does not allow States to accomplish their conventional obligations dealing with biodiversity conservation. The adoption of a new implementing agreement related to the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea and dealing with marine biodiversity conservation and sustainable use beyond national jurisdiction would clearly improve the cur-rent regime. However, such an agreement could turn not being enough toward this objective, and the achievement of the process of negotiation remains uncertain. Finally, it appears necessary to build a more global approach, resting on the identification of an international general obligation of conservation of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. Such a global approach helps to overcome the limits of the actual regime of conservation, which is centered on a spatial approach of marine biodiversity conservation in common spaces, having opposed legal regimes.