Regulating Vessel Discharges on the International and EU Level

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 1-81
Author(s):  
Alexander Proelss ◽  
Valentin J. Schatz

Abstract This study analyzes the legal requirements concerning discharges from ships, a matter that is characterized by a considerable degree of complexity. This complexity results, inter alia, from the highly technical nature of the applicable norms, but also from the fact that the relevant rules and principles are prescribed in a wide and often overlapping variety of instruments on different levels of law, namely public international law, European Union law (where applicable) and domestic law. Taking into account that the individual legal instruments within these sub-systems of law significantly differ in their spatial and substantive scopes and regulatory approaches, a risk of conflicts of norms exists both from a vertical (i.e., between different levels of law) and horizontal (i.e., between different instruments on the same level of law) perspective. This situation gives rise to legal uncertainties, which may ultimately threaten the lawful and effective application and implementation of the relevant norms. This study attempts to clarify the existing uncertainties and to suggest harmonized interpretations and applications of the pertinent rules and principles. It does not address the issue of pollution from ships in general, but focuses on three specific categories of vessel discharges, namely scrubber washwater, sewage and ballast water.

Author(s):  
Paul Gragl

The aim to defend legal monism requires more than just mere epistemology, as sceptics might argue that monism is incapable of describing the real legal world and the law as it is. Consequently, this part offers a precise analysis as to whether two or more distinct bodies of law blend into a unitary legal order or whether they evade such integration. Thus, it will assess the assumptions of the pure theory of law, and in particular those of legal monism, namely between national law and public international law; and between national law and European Union law. The objective of this assessment is to show whether monism is in fact capable of describing the legal reality as well as or even better than dualism or pluralism.


1999 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen Denza

The conclusion of the Treaty of Amsterdam and its progress through the ratification procedures of the 15 member States of the European Union provides an occasion to re-examine a familiar question. What is meant by the claim by the European Court of Justice that the European Com-munity Treaties have created “a new legal order of international law”1 or, more radically, “a new legal order”?2 Is EC law to be regarded as a particularly effective system of regional international law, or has it been created as, or mutated into, an entirely new species of law? If there are indeed two legal orders, to what extent are they still capable of cross-fertilisation? What about “European Union law”? Have the Treaty on European Union and now the Treaty of Amsterdam eroded the dichotomy between the two legal orders of public international law and EU law? Is public international law itself taking on some of the characteristics which have made EC law an attractive as well as an effective system for regulating relations between sovereign States? Are the two streams converging?


2019 ◽  
pp. 869-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uwe Kischel

This concluding chapter addresses transnational law. Public international law and European Union law are by no means the only transnational legal orders. There are also smaller transnational systems in South America or Africa which are modeled on European Union law, but which lag far behind in terms of importance and level of sophistication. The context of public international law is marked by a number of features which distinguish it from the various contexts of national law. At a very general level, public international law is characterized by a stronger interweaving of fact and law; heightened importance of politics; and a less technical approach to norms, their text, and their meaning than lawyers may be accustomed to. Meanwhile, European Union law is an independent legal system which, at least in its present, highly-developed form, has much more in common with national legal systems than with public international law.


Author(s):  
Pavlos Eleftheriadis

This book offers a legal and political theory of the European Union. Many political and legal philosophers compare the EU to a federal union. They believe that its basic laws should be subject to the standards of constitutional law. They thus find it lacking or incomplete. This book offers a rival theory. If one looks more closely at the treaties and the precedents of the European courts, one sees that the substance of EU law is international, not constitutional. Just like international law, it applies primarily to the relations between states. It binds domestic institutions directly only when the local constitutions allow it. The member states have democratically chosen to adapt their constitutional arrangements in order to share legislative and executive powers with their partners. The legal architecture of the European Union is thus best understood under a theory of dualism and not pluralism. According to this internationalist view, EU law is part of the law of nations and its distinction from domestic law is a matter of substance, not form. This arrangement is supported by a cosmopolitan theory of international justice, which we may call progressive internationalism. The EU is a union of democratic peoples, that freely organize their interdependence on the basis of principles of equality and reciprocity. Its central principles are not the principles of a constitution, but cosmopolitan principles of accountability, liberty, and fairness,


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Langstädtler

This treatise examines and compares the remedy in the Federal Highway Act (FStrG), Grid Expansion Acceleration Act (NABEG) as well as in the Determination of a Final Nuclear Disposal Site Act (StandAG) in terms of ensuring an effective remedy to enforce environmental law. Particularly the concentrated remedy in the NABEG proves to be conflictual. There are reasonable doubts whether it guarantees a sufficiently effective judicial protection concerning the enforcement of environmental law. This leads to questions regarding its compatibility with international law (especially the Arhus Convention) and European Union law.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Anders Henriksen

This chapter introduces the subject of public international law and provides an overview of its most important elements. It begins with a brief historical overview of international law. It then presents the international legal system consisting of different structures of legal rules and principles; discusses the basis of international legal obligation; offers a brief overview of the relationship between international law and national law; and deals with the issue of enforcement. The chapter concludes with some remarks about the alleged inadequacies of international law and the tension between notions of justice and order that is so prevalent within the international legal system.


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