Journal Articles & Book Reviews

Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future of IUU Fishing under International Law

The present brief contribution reflects on the evolution of IUU fishing, its current status, and possible future pathways to prevent, deter, and eliminate this practice. IUU fishing not only presents a question of management and conservation, but also entails serious human rights and transnational crime components. From these perspectives, this paper concludes that IUU fishing …

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A Collective ASEAN Response to COVID-19

Tan Hsien-Li reviews the collective ASEAN response to COVID-19 in light of the ASEAN Summit discussions in June 2020, including the longer term measures the grouping intends to take to tackle the economic difficulties.

Unilateral Trade Measures and the Importance of Defining IUU Fishing

Existing scholarship addresses difficulties with international law’s ‘definition’ of IUU fishing but not those arising from unilateral definitions. This article examines the legal consequences of the USA’s IUU definition, including the lessons thereof for all port and market states.

Accordion Governance

Since the 1990s, western, developed countries have moved away from rule-making and standard-setting in multilateral intergovernmental organisations, and have increasingly collaborated on those matters in clubs of developed countries, such as trans-governmental regulatory networks. Although clubs often generate rules or standards that affect developing countries, the latter have not had a voice in rule-making, resulting …

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Port States, Coastal States and National Security: A Law of the Sea Perspective on the 2017 Qatar-Gulf Crisis

In June 2017 a wide-ranging and protracted dispute between several members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) simmered over into the public sphere with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Saudi Arabia all severing diplomatic ties with Qatar. This diplomatic dispute is accompanied by a number of port state and coastal state measures which …

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Passage Through Indonesian Waters on Routes Used for International Navigation

Indonesia is the world’s largest and most important archipelagic State. Because it sits as the fulcrum between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, passage through and over the Indonesian archipelago is critically important to naval powers and maritime commerce. Indonesia played a significant role in negotiating the modern law of the sea, especially the …

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The Necessity of Indonesia’s Measures to Sink Vessels for IUU Fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone

Indonesia has been burning or sinking foreign vessels in its efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in its exclusive economic zone. Opinions on how much longer this measure should continue are manifold. While political issues may easily mask the situation, the underlying legal question remains: whether burning or sinking foreign vessels is a …

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Regional Organizations

This chapter examines the relationship that Asia-Pacific regional and sub-regional organizations have with international law, looking at seven international organizations that span the region. It is commonly believed that the member states of Asia-Pacific regional organizations prefer less formalized institutions and fewer binding commitments. Conventional reasons for this include their history of colonialism, less legalistic …

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Regulating Cross-Border Data Flows in a Data-Driven World: How WTO Law Can Contribute

While the free cross-border movement of data is essential to many aspects of international trade, several countries have imposed restrictions on these data flows. The pre-internet rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) discipline some of these restrictions, but they are insufficient. Unfortunately, so are the electronic commerce chapters in modern preferential trade agreements. This …

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