Registration ends 07.4.2026 at 23:59 h

The sea is often described as a “lawless” frontier of human society as most of it lies beyond the sovereignty of individual States. While this description is incorrect from a legal perspective, it is true that the realities of human activities at sea render people particularly vulnerable to harm. The nature of these activities, the circumstances under which they are undertaken, and the legal framework governing conduct in ocean space pose significant challenges to the prescription, enforcement and adjudication of laws that aim to protect humans. Against this background, this seminar will explore the role of law – particularly international law – in the protection of humans at sea, which may be classified as an aspect of social sustainability.

The content of the course will at least partially draw on the programme of work of the newly established International Law Association (ILA) Committee on “Protection of People at Sea” (https://www.ila-hq.org/en_GB/committees/protection-of-people-at-sea), of which Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz is a member.

To quote from the mandate of the Committee:

“The protection of people at sea has long escaped the attention of international lawyers, notwithstanding the intrinsic international character of the sea and the different nationalities of the people to be found on board vessels and platforms. While death, abuse, and excessive use of force have always been common at sea, it is only in the last 15 years that the often systematic violations of fundamental human rights at sea have attracted the attention of stakeholders and the general public. Intergovernmental organisations, civil society, and the media have started documenting abuses, ranging from slavery and forced labour in the field of fisheries, to overly long detention in police operations, to breaches of the right to seek asylum of maritime migrants, up to the lack of rescue for people in distress at sea. […] Confronted with this picture, it has become evident that international law, as it is currently interpreted and applied by States and international organizations, does not effectively protect people at sea. Apart from lack of political will and limited resources, a major obstacle in ensuring protection has been due to the fact that people at sea fall at the intersection of two branches of international law, which have, so far, rarely been combined: the law of the sea and international human rights law. […] In the emerging field of international law for the protection of people at sea, there are still many unresolved questions. Given the fact that most of the sea does not fall under the sovereignty of any State, which is the State or States that bear the obligation to ensure protection of people at sea? Do these duties vary depending on the maritime zones, the activity, the flag, or other circumstances? What is the exact content of these duties? What protection should be afforded to people at sea? What action (positive/negative, preventive/follow up, individual or collaborative) is required? What avenues are there for enforcing these duties? What duties, if any, do non-State actors bear? Who should enforce them?”

Unlike the Committee, however, this seminar will explore these issues not from the perspective of highly specialized legal experts, but in a manner that is suitable for students without a legal background. This means that we will also be interested in political and factual contexts as well as empirical studies or examples. Some examples and stories are drawn from the book “The Outlaw Ocean” written by Ian Urbina in 2019 (https://www.theoutlawocean.com/the-outlaw-ocean-by-ian-urbina/).

Provide a basic understanding of and ability to critically examine current challenges concerning the protection of humans at sea (as an aspect of social sustainability) from the perspective of law (in particular international law).

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