Resumen de The Contribution of the ITLOS to Strengthening the Regime for the Protection of the Marine Environment
This article aims at providing an overview of the jurisprudence of the ITLOS concerning the development of environmental principles applicable to the protection and preservation of the marine environment. It illustrates that the relevant case-law is characterised by an increasingly dynamic understanding of the obligations codified in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In particular, the ITLOS has substantiated Part XII UNCLOS by accepting the validity of, and assigning central importance to, the precautionary approach/principle under the regime of the Convention. It has furthermore interpreted the pertinent duties in terms of due diligence obligations. The article concludes that the approach taken by the Tribunal constitutes the most promising way to operationalize the environmental principles, as it is not possible to define the substantive content of the duty to protect and preserve the marine environment in a comprehensive and generally accepted manner. At the same time, the integral approach pursued by the ITLOS as well as by the Annex VII Tribunals must not go beyond the limits of their jurisdiction as defined by the Convention.
