HUMANSATSEA

Title: Integrating the human element into law of the sea: the quest for a comprehensive legal regime and adequate implementation tools at the international and EC level

Summary: The aim of the research project is to highlight legal gaps in law of the sea instruments relating to the treatment reserved to individuals and groups of people at sea, being therein either voluntarily or not, to explore mechanism for adapting the existing instruments to a more human-oriented approach and to consider how law of the sea rules could be used in order to provide for a stronger protection of individuals at sea.

An important part of the research will be the comparative analysis of law of the sea and related mechanisms, on one hand, and human rights and humanitarian law and mechanisms, on the other. The little scholarly work on the topic, the constant increase in maritime activities, the emergence of new maritime threats and the renewed interest of the EU for a comprehensive legal regime of maritime activities, set out in the Integrated Maritime Policy, all render the topic particularly relevant and its discussion timely.

The research, having a duration of 24 months (July 2010 July 2012) will be carried out at the Law Faculty of the University of Oxford under the supervision of Professor Vaughan Lowe, a leading international law scholar with considerable experience at research supervision. The outcome would be a monograph to be submitted to a leading international publisher.

The research aims to identify a novel, human-oriented, approach to maritime activities, to allow a cross-fertilisation of different branches of international law and EU law and to identify issues that have to be dealt with at the international level and within the EU. It will thus advance considerably the scientific excellence of the European Research Area and will permit the candidate researcher, whose experience in international law has been acquired almost exclusively in only one European State, to move to a different EU member State and to enhance and diversify her competences and skills, permitting her to add significantly to her career development and future prospects.

For more information, please visit EurOcean Knowledge Gate.