Geographical Change and the Law of the Sea

by Kate Purcell

Overview

This book examines the implications of geographical change for maritime jurisdiction under the law of the sea. In a multistranded intervention, it challenges existing accounts of the consequences of climate-related change for entitlement to maritime space, maritime limits, and international maritime boundaries. It also casts new light on the question of whether a loss of habitable land and large-scale population displacement will precipitate a loss of territorial sovereignty and the legal 'extinction' of affected States.

This study of the legal significance of geographical change is grounded in an in-depth study of the role of geography in the law of the sea. As well as offering a new perspective on the pressing question of how climate change will affect maritime jurisdiction, territorial sovereignty, and statehood, the book contributes to the scholarship on maritime delimitation and international boundaries generally (on land and at sea). It includes an analysis of the principle of intertemporal law that suggests a useful framework for considering questions of stability and change in international law more broadly.

This rigorous and original study will be of value to anyone concerned with the implications of climate-related change for maritime jurisdiction, territorial sovereignty, and statehood. Its broader analysis of the existing law and engagement with a range of doctrinal debates through the lens of the question of geographical change will be of interest to scholars and practitioners of the law of the sea, the law of territory, and the law relating to international boundaries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198743644
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/19/2020
Series:	Oxford Monographs in International Law
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 6.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dr Kate Purcell is a Research Fellow in the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology, Sydney. She completed her studies in law at the University of Cambridge (PhD), University of Oxford (BCL), and University of New South Wales (LLB Hons). Geographical Change and the Law of the Sea is based on the author's doctoral thesis, which was awarded the Cambridge Law Faculty's Yorke Prize in 2015.

Table of Contents

TablesAbbreviationsIntroduction: The Legal Terrain1.. Geography in the Law of the Sea2.. UNCLOS and the 'Ambulatory Thesis'3.. Article 7(2) and the Special Case of Deltaic Coasts4.. The Permanent Limits of the Continental Shelf5.. Fluidity in Maritime Boundaries: The Law of the Sea Treaties6.. Principles and Presumptions in an Assessment of Boundary Fluidity7.. Projecting Change: The Map and the Territory8.. Charting Change: Practices and Practicalities9.. Conditions over Time: Lessons from the Island of PalmasConclusion: The Limits of Geographical ChangeBibliography