Die Anmeldung beginnt erst am 02.10.2026 um 08:00 Uhr. Sie endet am 12.10.2026 um 23:59 Uhr

The registration is restricted to the following fields or courses of study:

• Masterprogramm Governance & Law: International Law and Sustainability / nur für das 1. Semester
• Masterprogramm Governance & Law: International Law of Security, Peace and Sustainable Development / nur für das 1. Semester
• Masterprogramm Governance & Law: International Law of Security, Peace and Sustainable Development / nur für das 1. Semester

This seminar addresses the role, achievements and shortcomings of international law and relevant global and regional actors and institutions in achieving sustainable ocean governance. Its main focus is on the international legal framework governing the sustainable use and protection of the oceans and the international institutions established for the purpose of, or involved in, implementing these legal frameworks (for example, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Seabed Authority (ISA) or regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs)). In the media, we regularly read about the shortcomings of this legal and institutional order (such as the ongoing ‘tragedy of the commons’), with journalists writing bestselling accounts of the oceans as a “lawless frontier” and filmmakers reaching broad audiences with documentaries such as the rather activist ‘Seaspiracy’ or the more impressive ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’. Against that backdrop, this seminar aims not only to foster an understanding of ocean governance as an integrative concept – i.e., drawing from a broad legal framework – but also to diagnose the reasons for its shortfalls. Specifically, we will focus on environmental sustainability rather than all facets of what ‘sustainable’ ocean governance may entail (e.g., social sustainability, such as human rights, etc.). In essence, we will consider the legal and institutional dimension of UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (“Life below Water”), which encourages us to “[c]onserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Where suitable, the seminar will also draw on security-related debates concerning ocean sustainability, such as in the context of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The global order of the oceans is uniquely suitable for the study of governance challenges due to its unmatched plurality of differing legal spaces (areas of full State sovereignty such as the internal waters, ‘free access’ global commons such as the high seas, internationally managed global commons such as the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction, and various spaces in between) and an unprecedented number of international organizations and bodies with a law-making competence.

The seminar begins by providing a general introduction to the main pillars and tenets of the global order of the oceans (particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as well as the concepts of ocean governance and ocean sustainability. Thereafter, the seminar analyzes specific persistent and/or contemporary challenges and recent or ongoing developments with respect to sustainable ocean governance. These topical sessions and the examples and/or case-studies examined in them highlight the importance not only of international law and institutions but also of its implementation through the prescription and enforcement of regional (for example, European) and domestic (for example, German) law.

This course will provide a basic understanding of and ability to critically examine the contemporary legal order of the oceans and the role of its institutions in ocean governance with a focus on environmental sustainability. The course will enable participants to develop a basic understanding of, and critical perspective on, several examples of current challenges posed to sustainable ocean law and governance on a global and regional level.

Further information on teaching evaluation: https://www.leuphana.de/en/teaching/quality-management/evaluation/course-evaluation.html