Salpin, Charlotte --- "Marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction: Soul searching and the art of balance" [2016] ELECD 1351; in Morgera, Elisa; Kulovesi, Kati (eds), "Research Handbook on International Law and Natural Resources" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) 411

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Law and Natural Resources

Editor(s): Morgera, Elisa; Kulovesi, Kati

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783478323

Section: Chapter 20

Section Title: Marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction: Soul searching and the art of balance

Author(s): Salpin, Charlotte

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

Keywords: marine genetic resources, law of the sea, UNCLOS, CBD, Nagoya Protocol, intellectual property rights, marine scientific research, areas beyond national jurisdiction, high seas, common heritage of mankind, benefit sharing, United Nations, international law, fragmentation, lex specialis, lex lata, lex feranda. The issue of marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction and the applicable law has been the object of a deep-rooted divergence of views between those advocating for a recognition of those resources as common heritage of mankind and those advocating the application of the freedom of the high seas. This chapter shows that the international law of marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction has been torn between lex lata and lex feranda and is slowly undergoing a process of consolidation and development. To that end, the chapter reviews the nature of the resources and related activities, provides an overview of the relevant legal instruments, and reviews relevant discussions in various intergovernmental fora. The chapter further considers the potential implications for international law of the United Nations process on the development of an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, arguing that while provisions on marine genetic resources in such an instrument may constitute an additional lex specialis, such a regime may consolidate existing or emerging norms of several fields of international law into a cohesive whole and bring greater systemic integration.