• Offered by ANU Law School
  • ANU College ANU College of Law
  • Classification Advanced
    Specialist
  • Course subject Laws
  • Areas of interest Law
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Course convener
    • Prof Donald Rothwell
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in Winter Session 2018
    See Future Offerings

This course will focus on the impact of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea and more recent supplementary agreements in the light of current State practice, seeking to identify, in particular, the extent to which its provisions have become part of customary international law in that area.

The course will address the following:

  • the history of Law of the Sea concepts
  • internal waters, territorial waters and the regime of innocent passage
  • the contiguous zone
  • transit passage through straits used for international navigation
  • islands, archipelagoes and the regime of archipelagic sealanes passage
  • the Exclusive Economic Zone
  • the Continental Shelf
  • recent developments in delimitation of maritime zones
  • the high seas and the management of High Seas fisheries
  • deep-seabed mining and the International Area.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

By the conclusion of this course, it is intended that students who have successfully completed all the course requirements will be able to:
  1. Explain, distinguish and apply advanced knowledge of the key concepts and principles that are applicable in the law of the sea and apply this knowledge in the context of the specific workings of international law, especially other relevant treaties, customary international law and methods of dispute resolution;
  2. Demonstrate extensive practical and theoretical familiarity with the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
  3. Analyse and show advanced understanding of some of the key law of the sea issues confronting Australia and the Asia Pacific region;
  4. Identify how the law of the sea interacts with related areas of international law such as maritime security and concepts of state sovereignty; and
  5. Plan and compose an advanced-level research paper which critically examines one or more contemporary law of the sea issues.

Other Information

This is an intensive course with a 4 day compulsory intensive (see LLM timetable for dates).
Approximately 6 weeks from the completion of the intensive your final assessment will be due. Contact with fellow students and the convenor, both prior to the intensive and after, is conducted via the Wattle course site.

Indicative Assessment

Assessment is likely to consist of:
  1. Class Participation (10%), Case Note (30%) and Essay (60%), OR
  2. Class Participation (10%) and Major Research Paper (90%)
Students must rely on the Course Study Guide which will be posted to the Wattle course site approximately four weeks prior to the commencement of the course.

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

26 hours of face to face teaching (4 day intensive). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours. 

Click here for the LLM Masters Program timetable

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must have completed LAWS8182 Principles of International Law and be studying a: Master of Laws (7300XLLM, MLLM), Master of Laws specialising in International Law (7300SINTL), Master of Laws specialising in Law, Governance and Development (7300SLGD), Master of Laws specialising in Environmental Law (7300SENVL), Master of Laws specialising in Government and Commercial Law (7300SGCL), Master of Laws specialising in International Security Law (7300SISL), Master of Laws in Migration (NLLML), Master of Laws in International Law (NLLIL), Master of Laws in Environmental Law (NLLEN), Master of Laws in Law, Governance & Development (NLLGD), Master of Laws in International Security Law (NLLSL), Master of Laws in Government and Regulation (NLLGR), Master of Laws (Legal Practice) (7312XLLMLP), Master of Diplomacy/Master of Laws (7883SINTL, 7883XLLM), Master of Diplomacy/Master of International Law (7893XMINTL), Master of International Law (7310XMINTL), Master of Environmental Law (7309XMENVL), Master of Law, Governance & Development (7317XMLGD), Master of International Security Law (7318XMISL), Master of Government and Commercial Law (7313XMGCL), Master of Legal Practice (MLEGP), Master of Legal Studies (7305XMLEGS). OR Must be studying a Juris Doctor (7330XJD, 7330HJD or MJD) and completed or be completing five LAWS1000 level or 6100 level courses, and LAWS2250 International Law or LAWS6250 International Law OR Must be studying a Graduate Certificate of Law (CLAW) and have completed or be completing LAWS8586 Law and Legal Institutions and LAWS8182 Principles of International Law OR Must be studying a Master of Military Law (MMILL) and have completed either LAWS8162 Military Operations Law or LAWS8166 Adv Military Operations Law OR Must be studying a Juris Doctor (MJDOL) and have completed the course LAWS8712 Australian Public Law & International Law B

Prescribed Texts

The prescribed text for this course is:
  • Donald R. Rothwell and Tim Stephens, The International Law of the Sea (Hart, Oxford: 2010).

Preliminary Reading

  • Churchill and Lowe, The Law of the sea 3rd Edition (1999)
  • Lowe and Talmon, The Legal Order of the Oceans: Basic Documents on the Law of the Sea (2009)
  • O’Connell The International Law of the Sea 2 vols (1982, 1984)
  • Rothwell, Oude Elferink, Scott and Stephens, The Oxford Handbook of the Law of the Sea (2015)
  • Tanaka, The International Law of the Sea (2012)

Students must rely on the approved Course Study Guide which will be posted to the Wattle course site approximately 4 weeks prior to the commencement of the course.

An e-brick will be available on the Wattle course site.

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Student Contribution Band:
3
Unit value:
6 units

If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.  Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2018 $3660
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2018 $5160
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

Winter Session

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
6875 01 Aug 2018 01 Aug 2018 17 Aug 2018 15 Sep 2018 In Person N/A

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