The legal regime relating to the environmental protection of extra-territorial spaces

Abstract

From the very beginning, due to his very human nature, man has been "possessive" and "territorial" in his behaviour. Thus, it has always been his food, his woman, his cave, his tribal stockade, his people, and so on and so forth. In present times, man lives in the organised (sic!) structure of his States; the State being nowadays the main recognised subject of international law; yet this development apart, however, the "possessive" and "territorial" aspects still persist. Indeed, these notions find expression, not only in the basic fundamental human rights to privacy of home and to protection from deprivation of property, etc, but also, on a "wider" scale, in the classical international law notions of Territory (which is a basic requisite for Statehood), State Sovereignty and Jurisdiction. In fact, though these so-to-say "possessive" and "territorial" rights, are to a certain extent counter-balanced, by other international law duties, such as the notion of State Responsibility; yet the latter are seen to be inadequate to balance the former, especially whenever an international issue is involved.