The law of piracy can be regarded as the oldest branch of international law, particularly the law of the sea. While the basic legal stipulations in international law as embodied in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea remained unchanged for a long time, there are some new developments relating to the change of the law of piracy associated with the resurgence of contemporary piracy in the 1990s and the so-called “anti-terror war” led by the United States after the September 11 event. This paper will address three aspects: the definition of piracy; new international legislation concerning piracy; and recent State practice, all contributing to the development of the international law of piracy.

The precautionary principle has been implemented in many fields including environment protection, biological diversity, and climate change. In the field of international nuclear safety regulation, the implementation of this principle is in an ongoing process. Since Japan declared to discharge Fukushima nuclear waste water into the ocean, the precautionary principle was put on the stage, and some debates are invoked on it. As is observed by this article, the precautionary principle has not been effectively implemented in nuclear safety regulation, specifically in nuclear safety law making, law enforcement, and judicial application. The reasons can be found from two main challenges: indeterminacy of perceived risk level required to justify precautionary action and hard balance of national interest and community interest in nuclear safety. In a long-term perspective, the framework of international nuclear safety regulation has to respond to these challenges, both by clarifying the precautionary principle in legal binding nuclear safety documents and moving towards a more transparent, fair, and effective enforcement regime in order to promote safer, more sustainable, and efficient civilian nuclear utilization around the world.

China’s Marine Environmental Protection Law was first adopted in August 1982 and came into force on 1 March 1983, and since then, it has gone through two revisions and three amendments. The latest revision in 2023 reflects China’s determination to further strengthen the protection of the marine environment and to prepare itself to meet new challenges and needs. This short article first provides a brief historical background of the Law and then evaluates some key changes in the 2023 revision. Finally, it highlights some features of the changes and pinpoints some concerns remaining in the Law even after the revision.

Article 298 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea allows state parties to exclude certain categories of disputes from the compulsory procedures entailing binding decisions. This provision serves as a “safety valve” by excluding sensitive issues mainly related to sovereignty. This article examines the three recent Annex VII Arbitral Awards (the South China Sea Arbitration; the Arctic Sunrise Arbitration; and the Chagos Marine Protected Area Arbitration) that assessed the interpretation and application of Article 298.

The U-shaped line in the South China Sea has been recently challenged in the international community and this challenge reached its climax when the Philippines presented China with a Notification and Statement of Claim under Article 287 and Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS Convention) on 22 January 2013. In its Statement of Claim, the Philippines requests the Annex VII Arbitral Tribunal to adjudge and declare that China's maritime claims based on the U-shaped line are contrary to the LOS Convention and invalid. Against this background, this article will analyze the issues concerning the related submissions of the Philippines.