This conference aims at dissecting the judicial jurisdiction of tribunals under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). By capturing the current state of affairs and potential trends in this respect it is intended to further the discussion on the future role of dispute settlement under the Convention and its impact on the Convention as a whole.
Questions that may be discussed:
- How have UNCLOS tribunals defined their jurisdiction and what justifications have been offered or implied in that connection?
- How do States parties to the Convention view the approaches the judiciary has entertained in this respect and what impact, if any, have these approaches had on the litigation strategies of States?
- How do the approaches of UNCLOS tribunals impact the Convention’s development and its interaction with the broader legal landscape for ocean governance?
Legal analysis can only shed light on certain facets of the many issues and processes involved. For this reason, the theme is approached from a multi-disciplinary perspective and the conference strives to bring together scholars of, in particular, the disciplines of law, international relations and philosophy. By adding different disciplines to the discussion, the conference intends to capture (theoretical) perspectives on the role of courts and tribunals in managing interstate relations and how that relates to the current state of affairs in the UNCLOS. It is expected that the dialogue between the different disciplines will enrich each of their understanding of what are, could and should be the bounds of the jurisdiction of UNCLOS tribunals.
With the above general framework in mind, the organisers welcome contributions that employ doctrinal, critical, comparative, theoretical and empirical approaches from different disciplines, devoted but not limited to the following themes with explicit reference to UNCLOS tribunals and their case law.
Abstracts of between 400 and 600 words, together with a short biography (max 200 words) should be submitted to Alex Oude Elferink (a.oudeelferink@uu.nl) by 29 February. The organizers will take a decision on the selection of papers for the conference by 20 March 2024. Full draft papers are to be submitted by
1 November 2024.