Popular in Law

Law

Diversity and Social Mobility in the UK legal profession

Law Society I. Stephanie Boyce

Internet Law

The Law of AI for Good

University of San Diego Orly Lobel

Human Rights Law

Transforming Restorative Justice for Transitional Settings

University of Nottingham Kerry Clamp

Law

Surrey’s Silence: Subpart F and the Swiss Subsidiary Tax that Never Was

Boston University Steven Dean

Criminal Law

Prosecuting Misdemeanors

American University Jenny Roberts

Human Rights Law

Siege Starvation: A War Crime of Societal Torture

Tufts University Tom Dannenbaum

Corporate Law

Data Valuation and Law

University of Southern California Jordan Barry

The Law of the Sea’s Fluid Anthropocentrism

View more insights in Professional - Law - International Law

View more figures from University of Alberta

View the page of Godwin Dzah

Read the Study

Godwin Dzah explores and critiques the relationship between the law of the sea and anthropocentrism.

Image courtesy of interviewee. July 23, 2024

Generating Workspace

Export as PDF

The chapter discusses the complex relationship between humanity and the law of the sea, emphasizing a protective framework for ocean governance that has become dominated by human interests. The author critiques the Law of the Sea Convention, arguing that it facilitates human exploitation rather than ocean conservation. Historically, the development of maritime law emerged from European powers, particularly Portugal and Spain, which influenced current international legal frameworks.

The author points out that human activity, such as fishing and deep seabed mining, exemplifies the dominance of human interests over ecological considerations. They advocate for a shift toward recognizing the ecological integrity of the ocean, suggesting a more ethical and post-human relationship with the sea that acknowledges its personhood and the need for its protection.

The work intersects international law, environmental concerns, and indigenous perspectives, revealing how historical concepts like the "doctrine of discovery" influence contemporary legal practices and treatises. The author also addresses the challenges posed by deep-sea mining and seeks to highlight the ecological impacts on less developed nations. Overall, the text calls for a re-evaluation of ocean governance to prioritize ecological health over human-centered uses.

Language:

Export as PDF

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.065 --> 00:02.765
The context of this chapter is essentially that

00:03.395 --> 00:05.335
the way we engage with the law of the sea

00:06.125 --> 00:10.115
presumably starts from a protective regime for the law

00:10.115 --> 00:11.475
of this, of the oceans itself.

00:12.055 --> 00:14.635
But it becomes quite clear that when we look at the law

00:14.635 --> 00:15.795
of the Sea convention

00:16.375 --> 00:19.875
and our engagement with human uses of the ocean,

00:20.185 --> 00:22.875
what is clear or what is quite obvious, is

00:22.875 --> 00:24.755
that we are doing this largely

00:24.975 --> 00:27.875
by extending human domination over the ocean

00:28.055 --> 00:30.715
as another frontier of human engagement.

00:31.095 --> 00:33.995
And so my research tries to

00:35.245 --> 00:37.855
take a critical look at how the law

00:37.855 --> 00:40.575
of the sea can be walked away,

00:40.635 --> 00:43.855
or we can walk away from that excessive human domination

00:44.315 --> 00:49.135
and begin to look at how ecological integrity takes central,

00:50.155 --> 00:52.255
central place in the way we engage

00:52.255 --> 00:54.215
with this phenomenon called Law of the Sea.

00:54.275 --> 00:57.215
The law of the sea is a body of rules,

00:57.765 --> 01:00.215
largely imaginating from treaties

01:00.915 --> 01:05.775
and other agreements which set in place or in motion.

01:06.325 --> 01:08.695
They put a regulatory regime for state

01:08.795 --> 01:12.055
to state engagement in the international context as to how

01:12.055 --> 01:13.255
to use the oceans.

01:13.875 --> 01:16.775
And so we take topics like navigation,

01:17.155 --> 01:18.495
we take topics like fishing,

01:18.955 --> 01:22.615
and even more recent issues of deep seabed or ocean mining.

01:22.985 --> 01:24.615
There is an international regime

01:24.645 --> 01:28.215
that regulates all these aspects of the uses of the ocean.

01:28.355 --> 01:30.815
So the law of the sea, as we know it today,

01:31.515 --> 01:33.375
is largely a construction

01:33.375 --> 01:36.175
of European politics and European law.

01:36.955 --> 01:40.575
Now, at the time, sometime in the 14

01:40.595 --> 01:43.455
and 15 hundreds, the

01:43.965 --> 01:47.015
most powerful ocean fairing states in Europe were

01:47.295 --> 01:48.615
Portugal and Spain.

01:49.115 --> 01:52.695
And so these two countries supported by the

01:54.205 --> 01:56.315
Roman Catholic Church, that's the Pope

01:56.935 --> 01:58.785
largely divided the world into two.

01:58.965 --> 02:01.385
So half of the world eastward

02:01.405 --> 02:04.465
or westward in the European context was controlled

02:04.465 --> 02:06.505
by other Spain or Portugal.

02:07.095 --> 02:10.355
And so you begin to see a lot of European countries,

02:10.585 --> 02:14.155
including the Netherlands, trying to push back on this

02:14.785 --> 02:17.715
Iberian domination of the, of the oceans.

02:18.535 --> 02:22.435
And we look at that history four or 500 years ago

02:22.735 --> 02:26.115
and its context today, you see very much how

02:26.115 --> 02:29.715
that European context influences what we even know today

02:29.715 --> 02:30.795
as international laws.

02:31.295 --> 02:35.035
So that is a bit of the context now in trying

02:35.035 --> 02:38.355
to understand why human fixation becomes a problem

02:38.455 --> 02:41.595
for the law of the sea, it's really important to engage

02:41.595 --> 02:45.875
with this concept of anthrop that is this centrality

02:45.875 --> 02:49.675
of human activity, either in the political

02:49.695 --> 02:53.165
or the social in the universe, broadly construed.

02:53.745 --> 02:58.685
And where this problem becomes, more evident in the law,

02:58.685 --> 03:01.775
they, the sea, is that even though we agreed

03:01.835 --> 03:05.655
to produce a document called the 1982 Law

03:05.655 --> 03:09.495
of the Sea Convention, that is a, an agreement amongst,

03:09.795 --> 03:14.045
the global states to, to regulate the sea, we begin

03:14.045 --> 03:16.725
to see clearly that it was just an arrangement to,

03:17.905 --> 03:22.405
and those human extensions into the sea, human control,

03:22.405 --> 03:26.965
including fishing, including even mining, in the,

03:27.145 --> 03:31.125
on the, on the ocean floor laying of cables,

03:31.495 --> 03:32.645
navigation purposes.

03:32.785 --> 03:37.285
So these are clearly human activities that are extensions

03:37.285 --> 03:40.165
of human domination into the sea or seaward.

03:40.935 --> 03:45.495
But we see clearly that the law of the sea presumably

03:46.015 --> 03:49.495
operates as a framework for protecting the oceans.

03:49.555 --> 03:53.255
But in clear terms, as we begin to peel away at these layers

03:53.315 --> 03:56.655
of human engagement with the sea, we see clearly

03:56.685 --> 04:00.495
that what's happening here is human domination of the oceans

04:00.675 --> 04:02.815
and not really about the protection of the oceans.

04:03.475 --> 04:06.175
The real challenge is that it's almost inevitable

04:06.325 --> 04:08.695
that human beings would use the sea.

04:08.915 --> 04:11.535
So I just want to lay that premise, first.

04:12.275 --> 04:16.575
But we see clearly that due to the European orientation

04:16.835 --> 04:17.855
of the law of the sea,

04:18.075 --> 04:20.735
or the Eurocentric domination of the law of the sea,

04:21.305 --> 04:25.575
where human uses predominate any of the,

04:26.115 --> 04:29.095
ecological considerations that go

04:29.095 --> 04:32.455
with protecting the oceans, it's important for us to sort

04:32.455 --> 04:35.935
of walk ourselves away from this overt

04:36.115 --> 04:38.855
and excessive human domination of the ocean.

04:39.435 --> 04:44.425
And we see examples in the indigenous

04:44.685 --> 04:47.905
or non-Western concepts of engagements with the ocean,

04:48.475 --> 04:52.185
where people are a lot more attentive to the ecological,

04:52.895 --> 04:55.785
even spiritual dimensions of the oceans.

04:56.445 --> 05:01.265
And these are important ways of reengaging with the oceans

05:01.265 --> 05:04.105
beyond just a question of regulating the oceans

05:04.105 --> 05:08.585
for human uses, but beginning to engage in a post-human

05:09.085 --> 05:12.265
and more ethical, relationship with the sea,

05:12.675 --> 05:16.345
where the sea assumes the character as a person

05:16.525 --> 05:19.625
or a legal person in, in, in, in a more,

05:19.625 --> 05:22.945
precise expression where the sea has its own embodiment.

05:23.245 --> 05:26.265
The sea enjoys a special place of recognition

05:26.265 --> 05:29.385
and protection where ecological integrity

05:29.485 --> 05:31.185
and ecological,

05:31.555 --> 05:34.625
centrality remains the focus of our engagement.

05:34.625 --> 05:38.585
So even if we are fishing, or we are laying cables,

05:38.605 --> 05:42.145
or we are doing new things like deep seabed mining,

05:42.595 --> 05:45.865
these activities take into consideration the

05:46.425 --> 05:48.745
ecological integrity of the ocean itself

05:48.965 --> 05:51.465
and not just about human uses taking

05:51.465 --> 05:52.825
precedence over the ocean.

05:53.245 --> 05:56.545
My work is broadly at the intersection of international law,

05:57.225 --> 06:00.045
Law of the sea environment, energy,

06:00.665 --> 06:04.405
and increasingly looking at indigenous perspectives of law.

06:05.105 --> 06:09.405
And so I have just concluding the, a recent work on,

06:10.175 --> 06:14.745
international laws vestiges of vestigial, you know,

06:15.385 --> 06:17.305
remnants in domestic law.

06:17.365 --> 06:20.185
So I look at the concept of what we call aqua,

06:20.795 --> 06:24.225
which is a variant of the doctrine of discovery,

06:24.835 --> 06:29.105
which focuses on the idea that no man's water

06:29.245 --> 06:30.345
or no presence water.

06:30.565 --> 06:33.665
And this idea also emanates from the European context

06:34.525 --> 06:36.625
of dominating lands beyond Europe.

06:37.005 --> 06:39.905
So that work looks at how the concept of a

06:40.855 --> 06:43.825
entered into the Canadian jurisprudence

06:44.365 --> 06:47.745
and continues to flourish in ways that are, you know,

06:47.805 --> 06:50.865
not quite detected or detectable by law.

06:50.885 --> 06:52.385
So that's one of my projects.

06:52.525 --> 06:54.985
And the second project looks at,

06:56.195 --> 06:59.295
global activities in relation to deep sea bed mining

06:59.715 --> 07:04.695
and how that impacts the ecological, aspirations

07:04.715 --> 07:07.055
of third ball states or the global south in general.

00:00 - The context of this chapter is essentially that the way we engage with the law of the sea presumably starts from a protective regime for the law of this, of the oceans itself. But it becomes quite clear that when we look at the law of the Sea convention

00:16 - and our engagement with human uses of the ocean, what is clear or what is quite obvious, is that we are doing this largely by extending human domination over the ocean as another frontier of human engagement. And so my research tries to take a critical look at how the law of the sea can be walked away, or we can walk away from that excessive human domination and begin to look at how ecological integrity takes central,

00:50 - central place in the way we engage with this phenomenon called Law of the Sea. The law of the sea is a body of rules, largely imaginating from treaties and other agreements which set in place or in motion. They put a regulatory regime for state to state engagement in the international context as to how to use the oceans. And so we take topics like navigation, we take topics like fishing,

01:18 - and even more recent issues of deep seabed or ocean mining. There is an international regime that regulates all these aspects of the uses of the ocean. So the law of the sea, as we know it today, is largely a construction of European politics and European law. Now, at the time, sometime in the 14 and 15 hundreds, the most powerful ocean fairing states in Europe were Portugal and Spain.

01:49 - And so these two countries supported by the Roman Catholic Church, that's the Pope largely divided the world into two. So half of the world eastward or westward in the European context was controlled by other Spain or Portugal. And so you begin to see a lot of European countries, including the Netherlands, trying to push back on this Iberian domination of the, of the oceans. And we look at that history four or 500 years ago

02:22 - and its context today, you see very much how that European context influences what we even know today as international laws. So that is a bit of the context now in trying to understand why human fixation becomes a problem for the law of the sea, it's really important to engage with this concept of anthrop that is this centrality of human activity, either in the political or the social in the universe, broadly construed. And where this problem becomes, more evident in the law,

02:58 - they, the sea, is that even though we agreed to produce a document called the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, that is a, an agreement amongst, the global states to, to regulate the sea, we begin to see clearly that it was just an arrangement to, and those human extensions into the sea, human control, including fishing, including even mining, in the, on the, on the ocean floor laying of cables, navigation purposes. So these are clearly human activities that are extensions

03:37 - of human domination into the sea or seaward. But we see clearly that the law of the sea presumably operates as a framework for protecting the oceans. But in clear terms, as we begin to peel away at these layers of human engagement with the sea, we see clearly that what's happening here is human domination of the oceans and not really about the protection of the oceans. The real challenge is that it's almost inevitable that human beings would use the sea. So I just want to lay that premise, first.

04:12 - But we see clearly that due to the European orientation of the law of the sea, or the Eurocentric domination of the law of the sea, where human uses predominate any of the, ecological considerations that go with protecting the oceans, it's important for us to sort of walk ourselves away from this overt and excessive human domination of the ocean. And we see examples in the indigenous or non-Western concepts of engagements with the ocean,

04:48 - where people are a lot more attentive to the ecological, even spiritual dimensions of the oceans. And these are important ways of reengaging with the oceans beyond just a question of regulating the oceans for human uses, but beginning to engage in a post-human and more ethical, relationship with the sea, where the sea assumes the character as a person or a legal person in, in, in, in a more, precise expression where the sea has its own embodiment. The sea enjoys a special place of recognition

05:26 - and protection where ecological integrity and ecological, centrality remains the focus of our engagement. So even if we are fishing, or we are laying cables, or we are doing new things like deep seabed mining, these activities take into consideration the ecological integrity of the ocean itself and not just about human uses taking precedence over the ocean. My work is broadly at the intersection of international law,

05:57 - Law of the sea environment, energy, and increasingly looking at indigenous perspectives of law. And so I have just concluding the, a recent work on, international laws vestiges of vestigial, you know, remnants in domestic law. So I look at the concept of what we call aqua, which is a variant of the doctrine of discovery, which focuses on the idea that no man's water or no presence water. And this idea also emanates from the European context

06:34 - of dominating lands beyond Europe. So that work looks at how the concept of a entered into the Canadian jurisprudence and continues to flourish in ways that are, you know, not quite detected or detectable by law. So that's one of my projects. And the second project looks at, global activities in relation to deep sea bed mining and how that impacts the ecological, aspirations of third ball states or the global south in general.

Faculti AI can make mistakes