22 October 2024: Dr Oral was invited to the Panel Discussion on Dispute Settlement Under the BBNJ Agreement Organized by the Permanent Mission to Turkiye, Brazil and Portugal

The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) was adopted on 19 June 2023 after almost two decades of negotiations. This was a positive outcome for the oceans, for multilateralism, for the cause of sustainable development. The Agreement will enter into force 120 days after the deposit of the 60th instrument of ratification, approval, acceptance or accession. When expressing consent to the BBNJ Agreement, States may wish to consider their choice of dispute settlement procedures.

While States may have different views on dispute settlement mechanisms, the approach adopted by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea provided the necessary flexibility to encourage universal ratification of this instrument. Such an approach inspired the BBNJ Agreement and informed the packaged deal achieved in 2023, which has also enabled accession of non-parties of UNCLOS to the BBNJ Agreement without prejudice to their legal position visà-vis UNCLOS.

During the event, panelists and attendees will examine topics such as the relevance of dispute settlement mechanisms to the law of the sea applied to areas beyond national jurisdiction; negotiations that culminated on Part IV of the BBNJ Agreement; the relationship between the provisions of Part XV of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the BBNJ Agreement; requests for advisory opinions; exclusions from jurisdiction; and the role of the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.

More about the event at the link: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.un.org/en/ga/sixth/79/pdfs/events/22_october_2024_7.pdf