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Protecting the Oceans beyond National Jurisdiction: Strengthening the Legal and Institutional Framework

A Seminar by

Dr. Robin Margaret Fraser Warner
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
67.202
12.30-13.30

Faculty of Law and ANCORS Joint Seminar

Abstract

The oceans beyond national jurisdiction are subject to escalating threats from existing and emerging uses and the impacts of climate change. The legal regime and institutional framework for protecting the environment of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction is fragmented both sectorally and geographically and far from comprehensive. Governance, regulatory and implementation gaps limit the effectiveness of the high seas legal regime in protecting and preserving the marine environment beyond national jurisdiction and securing sustainable conservation and management of its resources. The international community has been discussing the need for transforming the current high seas regime so that it is better suited to integrated, cross sectoral management and preservation of vital ocean ecosystems. This seminar will discuss recent developments and initiatives at the global level designed to address the conservation of high seas biodiversity and the options which have been canvassed to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for marine areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Short bio

Dr Robin Warner is a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security. Her expertise and research interests include Law of the Sea, oceans governance, marine environmental law, transnational crime and international criminal law. She was formerly the Assistant Secretary of the International Crime Branch of the Criminal Justice Division in the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department from 2002 to 2006. During that period she led several Australian delegations negotiating mutual assistance, extradition and international transfer of prisoners treaties with regional partners and Australian delegations to the UN Convention against Corruption negotiations in Vienna and the OECD Working Group on Foreign Bribery in Paris. Previously she served with the Royal Australian Navy as a legal officer. During her Defence Force legal career, Captain Warner occupied a wide range of positions including Director of International Law for the ADF and Deputy Director of Naval Legal Services. From 1996 to 2001, she was a member of several Australian delegations to multilateral and bilateral negotiations on Indonesia’s archipelagic sea lanes proposal and to the UN Informal Consultative Process on the Oceans.

Dr. Warner is a graduate in Arts and Law from the University of Sydney and holds a Master of International Law degree from the Australian National University. She graduated as a PhD from the University of Sydney in November 2006. Her PhD research concerned the international law framework for protection of the marine environment and marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. She has published articles and chapters in Australian and international journals and books on international law