Liability Issues for Deep Seabed Mining Series

About the Series

The Liability Issues for Deep Seabed Mining project was developed by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to assist in clarifying legal issues of responsibility and liability underpinning the development of exploitation regulations for the deep seabed. CIGI, in collaboration with the ISA Secretariat and the Commonwealth Secretariat, in 2017, invited leading legal experts to form the Legal Working Group on Liability for Environmental Harm from Activities in the Area to discuss liability related to environmental damage, with the goal of providing the Legal and Technical Commission, as well as members of the ISA with an in-depth examination of potential legal issues and avenues.

Papers in the series cover the following topics: the current legal architecture for liability/responsibility under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; the scope of activities covered under a liability regime; the responsible parties; the potential claimants; the range of recoverable damages; and the appropriateness of using insurance and compensation funds to ensure adequate resources for compensation. CIGI Senior Fellow Neil Craik coordinated the development of the paper series.

Members of the Legal Working Group

The group consists of Alfonso Ascencio-Herrera, Christopher Brown, Eden Charles, Neil Craik, Tara Davenport, Elie Jarmache, Hannah Lily, Ruth Mackenzie, Stephen E. Roady, Andrés Sebastián Rojas, Dire Tladi and Guifang (Julia) Xue.

The designations employed, as well as the content and presentation of material in these publications do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority or the Commonwealth Secretariat, including, inter alia, concerning the legal status of any country or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or maritime boundaries.

In the Series