An Overview of the Antarctic Treaty System and Applicable New Zealand Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-107
Author(s):  
Trevor Daya-Winterbottom
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Look Back ◽  
The Future ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Ross Dependency ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

The Antarctic Treaty 1959 has now been in place for 60 years and is regarded by informed commentators as one of the most successful multi-party international treaty systems. This paper provides an opportunity to look back and take stock of previous success, and more importantly, an opportunity to assess the future prospects of the treaty system. New Zealand has played a key role in the Antarctic Treaty system and has had a long involvement with Antarctica since accepting the transfer of sovereignty over the Ross Dependency in 1923. This paper therefore focuses on the effectiveness of the Antarctic Treaty system through a New Zealand lens.

Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities: a major addition to the Antarctic Treaty System

Polar Record ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (152) ◽  
pp. 19-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Resource ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Significant Development ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Key Terms ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Environment ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

AbstractIn June 1988, at the final session of the Fourth Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Wellington, New Zealand, the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA) was adopted, bringing to a successful conclusion six years of negotiations. Christopher Beeby, chairman of the discussions, presented the convention as the most important political development affecting Antarctica since the 1959 treaty, especially as it established the ability of the Antarctic Treaty System to reach an internal accommodation even upon matters raising serious political, legal, environmental and other issues. There remain uncertainties regarding the future development of the Antarctic minerals question; for example, when will the minerals convention and the proposed institutional framework come into effect, will its ratification encourage mining, can the fragile Antarctic environment be adequately protected against mining, how will certain key terms and concepts be defined, and will the regime's operation bring latent tensions to the surface? It is also difficult to predict how other governments will react to the convention, in the light of recent UN resolutions on Antarctica. The convention is perceived within the Antarctic Treaty system as a significant development, but it will be some time before a considered evaluation of the Antarctic Minerals Regime can be conducted.

The Antarctic Treaty System: What’s on the Horizon?

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 709-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Jabour
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
Antarctic Marine ◽  
The Future ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Areas Of Concern ◽  
Consensus Decision Making ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Consensus Decision ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

Abstract Antarctic commentary is usually full of superlatives when describing 50 years of the Antarctic Treaty and the subsequent system that was developed by its Parties. Primarily this is because the Antarctic Treaty itself has lasted so long, and appears to be robust and enduring. This short paper looks at what is on the horizon for the Parties to the various instruments of the Antarctic Treaty System – the Antarctic Treaty and its Protocol on Environmental Protection, and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. It identifies a number of key areas of concern that will challenge the Parties’ ability to maintain the successful status quo of today and meet the future with confidence. The future, characterised by the changing climate, will test the Parties in a number of crucial ways, including bringing into question their long-held principles of diplomacy and consensus decision-making.

scholarly journals A IMPORTÂNCIA ESTRATÉGICA DA ANTÁRTICA PARA CHINA E INDIA A LUZ DO REALISMO OFENSIVO DE MEARSHEIMER

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mônica Heinzelmann Portella de Aguiar ◽  
Leonardo Faria de Mattos
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Order ◽  
Scientific Cooperation ◽  
China And India ◽  
The Future ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

The Antarctic Treaty was signed during the Cold War and intended to preserve the continent and transform it into a conflict free territory, prioritizing scientific cooperation. Despite having quadrupled the number of its signatories, the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) faces nowadays the uncertainties of the new international order. Starting out from John Mearsheimer’s realistic perspective, this paper aims to analyze, the strategic importance of Antarctica and the interests that China and India have on the continent, as well as speculate on how their rise on the international scenario can impact the future of the Antarctic Treaty System.

A continent surrounded by advice: recent reports on Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 24 (151) ◽  
pp. 285-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Future ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

AbstractThe enhanced international significance of Antarctica during the 1980s is shown by a proliferation of studies analysing current and future possibilities. The year 1987 proved no exception to this trend; reports issued under the auspices of the European Parliament, the United Nations and the David Davies Memorial Institute of International Affairs reinforced the impression that Antarctica has become a continent surrounded by advice, even if it proves difficult to evaluate how far such reports will influence the policy-makers. Conservation proved a common feature, while the reports, discussed in this article, raise interesting questions about the future of the Antarctic Treaty system.

The Consequences of the ICJ Decision in the Whaling Case for Antarctica and the Antarctic Treaty System

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-187
Author(s):  
Michael Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
International Convention ◽  
International Court ◽  
Legal Context ◽  
Treaty Body ◽  
The Icj ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

This paper identifies parts of the International Court of Justice’s judgment in Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening) that might hold broader relevance beyond the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, and explores what that might entail for the Antarctic Treaty System. There are four aspects explored. First, an analysis of the Court’s treatment of Japan’s challenge to jurisdiction that touched upon the relevance or otherwise of Antarctic sovereignty to the issues at hand in the case. Second, the Court’s drawing of important conclusions from the Whaling Convention’s status as an ‘evolving instrument’, in light of it having a treaty body with ongoing decision making responsibility will be discussed. Third, to what extent might the Court’s assessment of the concept of ‘science’ in a legal context find relevance in Antarctic obligations will be analysed. Finally, the success of the claim brought by Australia, and the manner in which the Court addressed the issues before it, and whether they bear any consequences for potential, future environmental cases, will be discussed.

Another sterile annual ritual? The United Nations and Antarctica 1987

Polar Record ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 24 (150) ◽  
pp. 207-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Nations ◽  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Points Of Interest ◽  
The Future ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Future Management ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

AbstractThe UN Secretary-General's third Report of September 1987 provided the background for the fifth annual round of the UN's consideration of the ‘Question of Antarctica’. The First Committee's discussions in November 1987 resulted in the adoption by large majorities of two further UN resolutions in favour of a moratorium on the Antarctic minerals regime negotiations, an enhanced UN role in the operations of the Antarctic Treaty System, and the exclusion of South Africa from Consultative Meetings. On the surface, the session might be dismissed as yet another ‘sterile annual UN ritual’, serving to confirm the international community's lack of consensus about the future management of Antarctica. In reality, the episode, suggesting that the UN/Antarctic relationship may be at the crossroads, offered several points of interest, including increased signs of strain within the Antarctic Treaty System consequent upon the South African issue, and a greater appreciation by the critics of the need to work for change within the framework of the existing Antarctic Treaty regime.

scholarly journals Australia and the Convention for the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA)

Polar Record ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 26 (158) ◽  
pp. 195-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. N. Blay ◽  
B. M. Tsamenyi
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Resource ◽  
The Future ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

AbstractAustralia, a leading Antarctic state that played a key role in negotiating the Convention for the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities, in May 1989 announced its opposition to the Convention and adoption instead of a World Park or Wilderness Reserve concept for Antarctica. This article examines possible environmental and economic reasons for Australia's attitude, which is likely to have significant implications for the future of the Convention and for the Antarctic Treaty System as a whole.

The Antarctic Treaty as a temporal order

Polar Record ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 323-325
Author(s):  
Alessandro Antonello
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Physical Sense ◽  
The Future ◽  
Cultural Order ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

AbstractDiplomats, officials, scientists and other actors working with the Antarctic Treaty System have not simply negotiated a range of measures for regulating human access to the region in a physical sense. They are also continually negotiating a cultural order, one in which time is central. Antarctic actors are aware that the Treaty did not once exist and may cease to exist sometime in the future. They are conscious of environmental change. Each actor tries to elevate their standing and power in the system by deploying temporal ideas and discourses in their interactions with each other: bringing their histories into negotiations, trying to control the idea of the future. This article will map three temporalities within Treaty history: first, the deployment and potency of histories and futures, their relative rhythms and lengths; second, permanence and expiration, the questions and politics of how long the Treaty should or might last; and third, the periodisation of the Treaty period, both among actors themselves and among scholars studying Antarctica.

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