INTRODUCTION The Strait of Hormuz raises fundamental questions about the relationship between coastal sovereignty and international navigation. This lecture examines the legal framework governing passage through the Strait, focusing on the rights and responsibilities of Oman, Iran and user States. It considers the relationship between treaty and customary international law, the scope for regulating navigation for safety and environmental protection, and the legal questions surrounding the provision and funding of maritime services. Drawing comparisons with cooperative arrangements in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, the lecture explores the possibilities for practical cooperation involving coastal States, shipping interests and the International Maritime Organization. It asks how international law can support the shared management of a strategically sensitive waterway while safeguarding navigational rights and respecting coastal State interests.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER Dr Reece Lewis is Head of Law at Cardiff University. He specialises in public international law, with particular expertise in the law of the sea. He is the author of Legal Fictions in International Law (2021) and co-author, with Sir Malcolm Evans, of Islands, Law and Context (2023). He also co-authored the law of the sea chapter in Malcolm Evans’s International Law (Oxford University Press, 2024) and has joined Churchill, Lowe and Sander as the fourth author of much celebrated The Law of the Sea textbook. His scholarship appears in journals including the International & Comparative Law Quarterly, Asian Journal of International Law and Ocean Development & International Law, and has been cited by the International Law Commission. Reece served as Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee for its inquiry into whether the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea remains fit for purpose. Alongside his academic work, he provides expert advice and consultancy on the law of the sea.