This chapter examines the development of the law of the sea at the time of the League of Nations with specific focus on the entitlement to the oceans and the use of the oceans. This chapter first addresses the entitlement to and jurisdiction over marine spaces by examining the issue of the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, bays and islands. The chapter then examines the issue of the use of the oceans, focusing on the regulation of fishing and navigational rights in straits. Finally, the chapter will conclude that the era of the League of Nations can be thought to be one in which the traditional paradigm of the law of the sea was being formulated. However, the paradigm was qualified by the absence of an agreement with regard to the breadth of the territorial sea and rules regarding the delimitation of the territorial sea. In this sense, the paradigm in that period remained incomplete. Furthermore, the time was not ripe to establish a global legal framework for the conservation of marine living resources. Overall the law of the sea at the time was characterised by the reconciliation of competing interests of individual states.

The chapter discusses the basics of the law of the global commons (seas, air, outer space), by concentrating on what states can do in which zones or spaces

This chapter analyses the treatment of animals in sea warfare under extant international law and it assesses the adequacy of these norms for the protection of animal welfare. The welfare of marine animals is threatened by warfare in various ways. Individual marine mammals, such as dolphins or sea lions, are trained to take part in hostilities. Other sea life suffers, whether directly or indirectly, the repercussions of hostilities. In the context of prize law, animals could in some cases qualify as contraband goods, susceptible to seizure when on board neutral vessels heading toward enemy ports. It is concluded that the law as it stands today provides neither optimal protection for animals considered as a constitutive part of the marine environment nor for animals in themselves considered as sentient beings. The chapter formulates recommendations for the progressive development of the law, including the creation of a sui generis status for sentient animals, the regulation of military sonars and the establishment of protected marine zones where no combat activities whatsoever should take place.

The chapter discusses the basics of the law of the global commons (seas, air, outer space), by concentrating on what states can do in which zones or spaces