The Judicialization of International Marine Law

15th Annual Douglas M. Johnston Lecture.

Natalie Klein, Professor, University of New South Wales

International courts and tribunals have played an important role in the development of international marine environmental law from the 1893 Bering Fur Seal Arbitration through to the current requests for advisory opinions on climate change from the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. This lecture will consider the judicial contributions to international marine environmental law, asking why the judicial path has been taken and whether it delivers the outcomes needed for the marine environment.

Dr. Natalie Klein is a Professor at UNSW Sydney's Faculty of Law & Justice, Australia, and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow. She is currently President of the Australian Branch of the International Law Association and a Trustee for the UK-based charity Human Rights at Sea. Klein's research focuses on law of the sea and international dispute settlement. Her recent publications include Judging the Law of the Sea (with Kate Parlett; OUP, 2022) and the edited volume Unconventional Lawmaking in the Law of the Sea (OUP, 2022). With Rosemary Rayfuse and Aline Jaeckel, she co-edited Research Handbook on International Marine and Environmental Law (2nd ed., Edward Elgar, 2023).