ABSTRACT

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea follows a comprehensive approach and can be interpreted dynamically to include the regulation of all potential human uses of the ocean, but the law of the sea cannot be viewed in isolation from other fields of international law. International law does not resemble a hierarchically structured legal system; its different parts interact when different rules address the same activity or situation.

The academic discussion concerning the specialization and proliferation of international legal rules and dispute settlement bodies has theoretical as well as practical relevance for the law of the sea and its interaction with other parts of international law. The intensified use of the oceans for different purposes and the ongoing proliferation of international rules addressing different activities from different perspectives and with distinct foci require a more thorough evaluation of how the law of the sea relates to other fields of international law, how the normative context can be approached theoretically and if interdisciplinary interfaces can be adequately addressed. This book discusses the normative context of the law of the sea and the interactions of the law of the sea with other legal regimes.

By connecting high-quality research with new ideas and perspectives, this book offers expertise from different fields and perspectives in which the interaction between the law of the sea and other fields of international law becomes particularly relevant.

chapter 1|13 pages

From fragmentation to interaction?

A law of the sea perspective on regime interaction and interdisciplinary interfaces

chapter 2|30 pages

Interactions between law and science within the law of the sea

A systems theory perspective

chapter 3|24 pages

Regime interaction through concepts

The BBNJ process as a critical juncture in the relation between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on the Law of the Sea

chapter 6|30 pages

Ships passing in the night

The law of the sea and the human right to food

chapter 8|26 pages

Law of the sea and refugee law