From June 13th to 15th, the three-day "2018 Academic Conference on Ocean Law" was held in Wuhan. The conference was co-sponsored by the Institute of Ocean Development Strategy of the State Oceanic Administration and the National High-end Think Tank Institute of International Law of Wuhan University.
The meeting was co-chaired by Director Zhang Haiwen and Professor Yang Zewei. More than 70 people attended the academic exchange meeting, including representatives from the competent departments of international cooperation of the Ministry of Natural Resources, representatives of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, experts and scholars of relevant academic institutions, and teachers and students of the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University.
The main task of the conference is to exchange and discuss the results of the externally commissioned projects of the Institute for the year 2017-2018, including 35 topics on 6 major issues. The six major issues are: traditional ocean law, maritime law enforcement, ‘regional’ and high seas and BBNJ, ocean strategy, EU ocean policy and integrated marine management. The 35 topics are based on expert evidence issues in international law, archipelago issues, legal issues in volunteer ships, marine scientific research, marine litter and ocean acidification issues, and related strategic issues in the surrounding oceans and the Indian Ocean (see annex). The responsible persons of topics from 27 academic units briefly introduced the research results, and invited experts to inspect the comments one by one, and the participants conducted in-depth academic exchanges.
The meeting is rich in content and novel in form. On the one hand, the conference combines the theoretical research of the academic circle with the latest international negotiation process, and provides a rare first-hand international practice dynamic information for the in-depth study of the theoretical study of the ocean law; on the other hand, it also establishes a communication academic platform of the ocean law and marine science. Participants conducted in-depth discussions on the theoretical issues of traditional ocean law, as well as the latest international ocean practice issues such as BBNJ; they conducted in-depth evaluations of marine safety forms and related strategic issues such as the Sea of Japan and the Indian Ocean, as well as current world ocean hotspot issues, such as marine debris, ocean acidification and other marine governance issues, carried out cross-border discussions between natural sciences and international law; brief introductions of EU marine policies and relevant countries' ocean management systems, as well as China's integrated marine management research and the reform of the law enforcement system in the sea.
annex:
Main issues discussed at the meeting
1. Traditional problems of law of the sea
Research on Expert Evidence in International Law, Research on Rules and Law of the Sea, Research on Road Projects, Research on Islands Sovereignty, Research on Archipelago's Composition Standards and Rules of Acquisition, Volunteer Ship Investigation and Marine Science Research Legal Issues, Ocean Dispute resolution legal mechanism development trend assessment, international maritime treaty development and its impact research, international maritime demarcation dynamic tracking research
2. Issues of Marine law enforcement
Study on the principles, measures and means of law enforcement in marine dispute areas, research on fisheries law enforcement in the countries surrounding the South China Sea, and research on law enforcement in high seas fisheries
3. "Region", high seas and BBNJ issues
Research on the impact of the relevant practice of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, coordination of ‘regional’ activities with other marine activities, data compilation and database design of the high seas protected areas, research on international law issues in the Antarctic Ross Sea Reserve, research on marine debris and ocean acidification, the definition of marine genetics resources and related terms, the relationship between BBNJ and the rights and obligations of coastal countries, the study of the immunity of military activities in the BBNJ new implementation agreement, the research on the mechanism of the BBNJ new agreement mechanism framework, the types of zone management tools and their Definition study
4. Relevant ocean strategy issues
Xi Jinping's research on the characteristics and connotation of marine thought, the study of Japan's sea security issues, the study of ocean strategy and policy in Northeast Asia, and the related strategic issues of the Indian Ocean
5. EU marine law and policy issues
EU's research on China's ocean policy and its new development, EU marine legislation and policy research
6. Integrated management issues
Major international affairs tracking and situation analysis, research on marine management team reform in China, practice and case study of coastal zone planning, investment and financing model and policy research of marine industry in the new era, research on marine use control based on ecological carrying capacity
