Introduction to the research handbook on ocean governance law

Abstract

It is an arduous task to shortlist the topics which introduce the reader to the complexity of the law of ocean governance in a streamlined, yet comprehensive manner. This has been perhaps our major challenge as editors while working on this publication. We have been teaching and researching the various aspects of ocean governance for many years in Malta and abroad, so we did not wish to restrict the contents of this Research Handbook to a legal discussion on aspects of maritime jurisdiction in the various human-drawn zones of ocean space. Neither did we wish to address ocean governance law from a single sectoral perspective, such as the conservation of the marine environment or the various ramifications of maritime security. Opting for such a minimalist approach would have been easier and more straightforward, but our aim was to acquaint the researcher with key aspects of a pluralist legal framework the observance of which aims, inter alia, to:

Secure the rule of law across the ocean space,

Enhance the conservation of the ocean as a natural planetary resource,

Ensure the sustainable use of its living and non-living resources,

Safeguard the protection of human rights at sea,

Regulate the use of the ocean and its ecosystem services by various legal subjects and stakeholders in a just and equitable manner,

Sustain the use of the ocean for peaceful purposes,

Identify the interrelated rights and obligations of States, intergovernmental organisations and other actors over ocean space and its resources,

Provide for the settlement of disputes among legal subjects and addressing of legal gaps.