Handbook

Much international law deals with terrestrial issues and people, however international law also plays a critical role in relation to other domains, including the sea and space, and those are the focus of this topic.

International law of the sea regulates interests arising from uses of the sea, such as navigation, fishing, exploration and exploitation of living and non-living marine resources.  The topic covers the legal status of maritime zones (territorial seas, straits, economic zones, the high seas and the international sea-bed area) and the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.  It enables exploration of current topics such as: marine pollution and protection of the marine environment; carbon sequestration; maritime boundaries disputes; research and military use of the sea, and exploration for, and exploitation of, offshore energy resources, including deep-sea mining.

As human activity expands into space so does international law. This topic provides a critical overview of the legal and governance issues that arise in the context of space activities. This includes domestic and international legal principles and rules applicable to commercial space operators; legal and governance responses to the problems of space debris and space traffic management; debates on access to space, decolonisation and democratisation of space and space infrastructure; and the interactions between commercial/civil activities and military/security activities.