News & Events
Changing and Dynamic Oceans: Gauging Law and Policy Responses
JOINT CONFERENCE
Marine & Environmental Law Institute, The George Washington University Law School and Environmental Law Institute (ELI)
- Location: George Washington University Law School, Washington DC
- Date: November 9-10, 2018
Download the agenda for further information [PDF - 292kB]
MELAW PhD candidate Cecilia Engler part of panel decision on Ecuador's complaint against RMFO conservation measure
Sept. 12, 2018
In April 2018, Cecilia Engler, PhD Candidate with the Marine & Environmental Law Institute, was appointed as a Member of an Expert Panel established under the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean to review the objection filed by Ecuador against a conservation measure adopted by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO).
Ecuador objected to a decision adopted by the RFMO’s Commission that allocated quota shares in the Jack mackerel fishery for the period 2018-2021. The Convention establishing the South Pacific RFMO considers a “ring-fenced” objection procedure that requires the objecting party to justify the objection on an admissible ground (inconsistency of the decision with the Convention or international law of the sea as reflected in the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention and the 1995 Fish Stocks Agreement; or the discriminatory nature of the measure with respect to the objecting party) and the adoption of alternative conservation measures equivalent in effect to the decision to which an objection was presented. Additionally, the objection triggers the establishment of a three-person Review Panel to consider the objection and to submit its findings and recommendations to the RFMO’s Commission.
The proceedings took place in May 2018 in The Peace Palace, The Hague, Netherlands, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration served as a Registrar. The findings and recommendations of the Review Panel were submitted to the South Pacific RFMO on 5 June 2018. The Review Panel found that the conservation measure objected by Ecuador is not inconsistent with the provisions of the Convention or other relevant international law, and does not unjustifiably discriminate, in form or in fact, against Ecuador. Furthermore, it found that the alternative measures proposed by Ecuador were not equivalent in effect to the objected decision.
The findings and recommendations, as well as the objection, the written submissions by the participating Parties and the transcript of the hearing, can be found at the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s website in the following link: https://pca-cpa.org/en/cases/156/.
Previous MELAW News & Events
JOINT SEMINAR: "Voyages in Maritime Affairs: A Testament to the Inter-disciplinary approach of Dalhousie's Marine Affairs and Marine & Environmental Law Programs"
DATE: Thursday, September 27, 2018
TIME: 3:00 P.M.
PLACE: Room 204, Weldon Law Building, Schulich School of Law, 6061 University Ave.
All Welcome, Free & Open to the Public
| May 16, 2018 | |
| November 2, 2017 | |
JOINT SEMINAR with Marine & Environmental Law Institute and Marine Affairs ProgramDATE: Thursday November 2, 2017 “What explains the implementation of the policy in the Norwegian Barents Sea Management Plan?”Ecosystem based management is an ambitious concept that has been notoriously difficult to implement. It should be time to investigate systematically under which conditions successful implementation is possible. Implementation theory offers a platform for this. Gunnar Sander will present an analysis of what explains the results when the policy in the Norwegian Barents Sea Management Plan was put into practice. He will also present ideas for how studies of a Canadian case (the ESSIM process) can be another building block in developing conditional theories for implementation of EBM.
About Gunnar SanderGunnar Sander has a multidisciplinary background with master degrees in planning and the law of the sea. He has worked with integrated planning of land use, transport and the environment for 15 years prior to starting at the Norwegian Polar Institute in 1997 where he was involved in integrated marine planning. He now is a PhD candidate at the Norwegian College for Fisheries Science at the University of Tromsø in Norway, and is visiting Dalhousie University fall 2017. EVERYONE IS WELCOME !This seminar is co-sponsored with the Marine Affairs Program and the Marine & Environmental Law InstituteSee the poster for the event here. |
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| March 7, 2017 | |
| In Nova Scotia, Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian communities are disproportionately threatened by polluting industries and other environmental harms. How do communities organize to resist environmental racism, and how can law and policy help to secure communities’ access to justice? On March 7, the Marine & Environmental Law Institute and the Environmental Law Students’ Society at the Schulich School of Law hosted a panel discussion featuring Jim Maloney (District Chief for Sipekne'katik), Stuart C.B. Gilby (LL.B., LL.M. – Burchells LLP), Ingrid Waldron (Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Dalhousie University), and Lisa Mitchell (LL.B. – Executive Director, East Coast Environmental Law Association). | |
| January 9, 2017 | |
Edward Elgar Publishing has released the first edition of Aquaculture Law and Policy: Global, Regional and National Perspectives as part of its New Horizons in Environmental and Energy Law series. Professor David VanderZwaag, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Ocean Law and Governance and Associate Director of the Schulich School of Law’s Marine & Environmental Law Institute, co-edited the almost 500-page book with Nigel Bankes of the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law and Irene Dahl of the K.G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea in Norway. Read the full story here.
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| November 17, 2016 |
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The topic of the 8th annual Douglas M. Johnston Lecture was "Progressive Global Environmental Constitutionalism and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development." The lecture was co-sponsored with the College of Sustainability.
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| October 27, 2016 | |
Tore Henriksen, Professor of Law
On October 27, 2016, Prof. Henriksen gave a presentation on “The Arctic Ocean, Environmental Stewardship, and the Law of the Sea” at the Schulich School of Law. His presentation can be viewed here. [PDF 864 KB] Henriksen was the first director of the LLM program on law of the sea, established at UiT in 2008. Since earning his PhD in international fisheries law in 2001, he has published on international marine environmental law and international maritime law. In recent years, he has been particularly interested in the law of the sea as applied to the Arctic. Henriksen is also the director of the K.G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea (JCLOS). The research centre was established in 2013 based on funding from a private foundation, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, and other external funding. JCLOS currently employs 27 associates who cover a wide spectrum of issues relating to the law of the sea. |
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| February 9, 2016 | |
Our warmest congratulations to our colleague, Professor Aldo Chircop, who was named the Canada Research Chair in Maritime Law and Policy in recognition of his globally recognized leadership in this field of research. The Marine & Environmental Law Institute is home to both Professor Aldo Chircop, Canada Research Chair in Maritime Law and Policy, and Professor David VanderZwaag, Canada Research Chair in Ocean Law and Governance. Congratulations, Aldo! Read the news story here. |
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| Southeast Cuba (COSTASURESTE, 2010-2015) | |
Professor Aldo Chircop worked on the project Local Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Southeast Cuba (COSTASURESTE, 2010-2015), it was a project funded through the University Partnerships in Cooperation and Development Program (UPCD)’s Scaling Up Competition launched in 2008. Documentary 1: “Guamá entre el mar y la montaña” Documentary 2: “San Antonio del Sur la tierra que renace” |
Elizabeth Mrema with MELAW Professors David VanderZwaag (left) and Meinhard Doelle.
Student achievements
- Hai Dang Vu successfully defended his doctoral thesis “Towards a Network of Marine Protected Areas in the South China Sea: Legal and Political Perspectives" and has recently been published as Marine Protected Areas Network in the South China Sea: Charting a Course for Future Cooperation
- Congratulations to JSD candidate María Cecilia Engler Palma, chosen as a 2012 Vanier Scholar.
Learn more about the achievements of our graduate students.
MELAW in the news
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Canadian and Japanese scholars unite to discuss the ocean's future
On December 6-7, 2019, the Canadian-Japanese Scholarly Exchange on the Law of the Sea brought together experts from both countries for the first time to exchange views on international ocean governance.
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Canada's backyard: The future of the Arctic Region
This week's Dal-hosted Arctic Research Symposium brought together experts from different fields, including Professor Aldo Chircop from the Marine and Environmental Law Institute, to share their thoughts on the Arctic and to discuss major issues surrounding the region.
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Get to know International Postdoctoral Research Fellow Desai Shan
While at the Schulich School of Law, Ocean Frontier Institute International Postdoctoral Research Fellow Desai Shan is conducting research on occupational health and safety regulation and management on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
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Combining law and a love for the sea
Although Jocelin d’Entremont (JD ’12) has been practicing fisheries law and marine law at Hood Fraser d’Entremont Law Firm in Yarmouth, N.S., since 2013, his personal connection to the sea dates back to his childhood.
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Killam Postdoctoral Fellow's research tackles climate change
Meet Lisa Benjamin, who will soon complete her six-month stint as a Schulich Law Killam Postdoctoral Fellow.
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Marine & Environmental Law Institute Professors ft. in "The Future of Ocean Governance and Capacity Development"
"The Future of Ocean Governance and Capacity Development" features an essay by Professor David L. VanderZwaag, "Edging Towards Principled Ocean Governance: Law of the Sea and Beyond" and a contribution to the introduction by Professor Emeritus Moira L. McConnell. This publication is now available via free open access online.
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Students’ climate change law paper wins international writing contest
Congratulations to the four Schulich School of Law students whose paper on climate change law recently won an international student writing contest.
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Graduating student's environmental law paper wins CBA essay contest
The Schulich School of Law is pleased to announce that third-year student Riley Weyman has won the CBA's National Environmental, Energy, and Resources Law Section (NEERLS) Student Essay Contest – Gowling WLG – David Estrin Prize.
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Ryan Bernard (JD '18) wins national student paper competition
Congratulations to recent alumnus Ryan Bernard (JD ’18), who has won the 2017–2018 Jim Davey Award Student Paper Competition.
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KUDOS! Aldo Chircop named Canada Research Chair in Maritime Law and Policy
The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, along with the Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board, made the announcement today at Dalhousie’s Heavy Structures Lab at an event celebrating the appointment of six new innovative and talented Dalhousie researchers as Canada Research Chairs.
- Honourary Degree recipient, Sheila Watt-Cloutier addresses the graduating class of 2015
Schulich School of Law Convocation Webcast May 29, 2015.
