The International Seabed Authority and the Enterprise: How Africa is reinvigorating the principle of the common heritage of mankind

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Mehdi Remaoun
Keyword(s):  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
The Status ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
African Group ◽  
The Common ◽  
International Seabed Authority ◽  
Deep Seabed Mining ◽  
The Impact

This article focuses primarily on a submission made by the African Group of States to the International Seabed Authority (ISA) on the operationalisation of the Enterprise. The latter is one of the organs established under Part XI of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) and guided by the principle of the common heritage of mankind (CHM). Following several years of the status quo remaining unchanged, the start of the development of the exploitation regulations for deep seabed mining has led to louder calls to operationalise the Enterprise. This article first outlines the origins and legal foundations of the concept ‘Enterprise’. This is followed by discussions on the status of this organ prior to the African Group’s submission, the main elements contained in the submission as well as the reactions to, and the impact of, the submission. Beyond the issue of the Enterprise, this article also considers other attempts of the African Group to give full effect to the CHM principle in the ISA as well as the Group’s attempts to enshrine the CHM principle in a potential third LOSC implementing agreement on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. It concludes with critical observations that put the various aspects discussed into perspective.

Concluding Remarks on Corporate Entity Involvement in Deep Seabed Mining

2021 ◽  
pp. 269-274
Author(s):  
Joanna Dingwall
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
Mining Operations ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
The Common ◽  
International Seabed Authority ◽  
Deep Seabed Mining ◽  
Seabed Mining ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Marine Environmental

The conclusion addresses the findings reached throughout this study on the role of private corporate actors in the deep seabed mining regime under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the impact of this upon realisation of the common heritage of mankind. It notes that the ISA is facing significant challenges in devising a workable payment mechanism that will deliver tangible benefits to humanity, while also ensuring sufficient marine environmental protections. The regime’s achievement of the common heritage will be dependent on the regulatory regime of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) fulfilling its potential, and implementing a comprehensive Mining Code to govern the life cycle of deep seabed mining operations. The study concludes by finding that, on balance, the regime is developing in a manner that may render it capable of realising its common heritage goals of securing communitarian benefits to humanity, alongside market-focused objectives. It also concludes that corporate participation may assist in achievement of the common heritage, to the extent that it may provide the commercial means for deep seabed mining to commence.

The Common Heritage of Mankind

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Lodge
Keyword(s):  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
International Seabed Authority ◽  
Legal Meaning

Abstract One of the key features of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is its recognition that the seabed and its resources beyond national jurisdiction are the common heritage of mankind. Part XI of the Convention gives precise legal meaning to this term. The International Seabed Authority is responsible for implementing the common heritage principle. Since the Authority was established in 1994, a comprehensive legal regime for the Area has been established. Despite initial problems, the international machinery for the administration of this regime is functioning well. The Authority has made good progress, on the basis of the evolutionary approach set out in the 1994 Agreement, in elaborating a regulatory regime for access to the resources of the Area. Much more work remains to be done, however; in particular, if the economic benefits of the common heritage are to be realized.

The International Seabed Authority and the Common Heritage of Mankind: The Need for States to Establish the Outer Limits of their Continental Shelf

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Franckx
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
International Law ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
International Seabed Authority ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractThe principle of the common heritage of mankind was introduced in international law to internationalize certain common spaces beyond national jurisdiction. It has found a certain application in outer space as well as in the Antarctic, but it is with respect to the oceans that it has so far found its fullest exposition. Since the principle is very much tied to the Area in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, i.e., the seabed and ocean floor and subsoil thereof beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, it can be said to have triggered that convention, but at the same time was also almost responsible for its demise. As a consequence, its content has changed over the years. The present article intends to have a closer look at how this principle at present relates to the obligation of broad-margin states to establish the outer limit of their continental shelf.

Mining, Protection of the Environment, Scientific Research and Bioprospecting: Some Considerations on the Role of the International Sea-Bed Authority

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 383-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tullio Scovazzi
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Research ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
Sea Bed ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
International Seabed Authority ◽  
Legal Condition ◽  
Innovative Concept

AbstractThe innovative concept of the common heritage of mankind is embodied in the 1982 LOSC for the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction (the Area). It has been subsequently adapted to meet further political and economic realities. Despite the present uncertain situation, the mandate of the International Seabed Authority (ISBA) is already broader than it is commonly believed. The legal condition of the space (the Area), its being the common heritage of mankind, may have an effect also on matters and activities that (though different from minerals and mining activities) are located in that space. While bioprospecting is not specifically regulated by the UNCLOS, there is an inextricable factual link between the protection of the deep seabed environment (including its biodiversity), marine scientific research and bioprospecting. the ISBA, the principles that it represents, as well as its existing competences and responsibilities, need to be taken into consideration when States decide to fill the legal gap of bioprospecting. The role of the ISBA could be expanded in the future to meet new objectives under commonly agreed cooperative schemes.

Does the Regime Secure the Common Heritage’s Benefit-sharing and Marine Environmental Protection Components?

2021 ◽  
pp. 199-234
Author(s):  
Joanna Dingwall
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Marine Environmental Protection ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Common ◽  
International Seabed Authority ◽  
Deep Seabed Mining ◽  
Marine Environmental

Chapter 6 considers whether the continuing development by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) of the regulatory framework for deep seabed mining beyond national jurisdiction is on course to secure the common heritage’s main material components of benefit sharing and marine environmental protection, in the face of increasing corporate activity. It addresses the emerging regulatory regime provided in the Draft Exploitation Regulations in relation to the planned payment mechanism and the protection of the marine environment. As Chapter 6 explains, a key measure of the regime’s ability to secure the common heritage in these respects will be the extent to which it retains regulatory flexibility to adapt to new challenges. Chapter 6 also considers the existing framework for implementation, responsibility and enforcement, as underpinned by binding dispute resolution options. It concludes by assessing the position of corporate actors in terms of each of these aspects, as robust implementation options will be vital for achievement of the common heritage.

Outer limits of the continental shelf beyond CLCS recommendations and Article 76(8) of UNCLOS: With reference to Japan’s Cabinet Order No. 302

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Michael Sheng-ti Gau ◽  
Si-han Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
The West ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
Essential Questions ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Legal Consequences ◽  
The Unclos

Abstract In 2014 Japan’s Cabinet Order No. 302 declared the outer limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (OL) to the west and north of Oki-no-Tori Shima (Area 302). Oki-no-Tori Shima consists of two small, barren, and uninhabitable rocks in the West Pacific. The northern part of Area 302 is broader than what the 2012 recommendations of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) specify. A question arises whether Order No. 302 violates Article 76(8) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which provides that the OL established by a coastal state ‘on the basis of’ the CLCS recommendations shall be final and binding. Another question is the role played by the CLCS in ‘assisting’ the coastal states to delimit their national jurisdiction so as to know where the Area (i.e., the Common Heritage of Mankind under UNCLOS Articles 1(1)(1) and 136) begins. The essential questions arising from Area 302 concern how well the UNCLOS mechanism can perform to safeguard the Common Heritage of Mankind through preventing encroachment thereupon by individual coastal states. This article looks at the context and explores the obligations implied by Article 76(8) for coastal states to ‘follow’ the recommendations in establishing the OL, with special reference to the northern part of Area 302. The article also examines legal consequences arising from a breach of these obligations.

The Permanent Limits of the Continental Shelf

2019 ◽  
pp. 75-103
Author(s):  
Kate Purcell
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Coastal Change ◽  
Coastal State ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Law

This chapter traces the development of the regime of the continental shelf. It challenges the claim that UNCLOS Article 76(9) exceptionally secures the limits of the continental shelf against subsequent coastal change. The permanence of the outer limits of the continental shelf was intended to preserve an area of the seabed beyond national jurisdiction as the common heritage of mankind. The law also provides that the limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M), which are not defined by distance from the coast, are ‘final and binding’. Neither Article 76(9) nor any other element of the regime of the continental shelf can be said to imply the ambulatory character of baselines and the zonal limits measured from them. Indeed, the requirement to permanently establish the limits of the continental shelf implies that the coastal State is ordinarily permitted rather than required to revise established maritime limits.

scholarly journals Common Heritage of Mankind and the Deep Seabed Area Beyond National Jurisdiction: Past, Current, and Future Prospects

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 40-52
Author(s):  
Edwin Egede ◽  
Eden Charles
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International Seabed Authority

Abstract The common heritage of mankind (CHM) is of a relatively recent origin. This study examines Arvid Pardo's speech to the United Nations General Assembly in 1967, in which he urged that body to designate the seabed beyond national control as CHM. The commentary next looks at Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 82, as amended by the 1994 Agreement, which incorporates the CHM as a core principle governing mineral mining in the deep bottom area beyond national jurisdiction. Finally, it discusses CHM's future prospects in relation to the draft International Seabed Authority (ISA) Exploitation Regulations, the Enterprise, an ISA organ that has yet to be operationalized, and ongoing discussions about an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity under the UNCLOS. The purpose of this study is to highlight the complexity surrounding the CHM, which is a key principle governing deep seabed activities.

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