Polar Law Textbook - Arctic Portal Library - Arctic Portal Library

245 Pages·2010·1.1 MB·English

by  Hanne Lebech

Polar Law Textbook

Natalia Loukacheva, Editor

TemaNord 2010:538
Polar Law Textbook

TemaNord 2010:538
© Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen 2010
ISBN 978-92-893-2056-6
Print: Rosendahls Schultz Grafisk a/s
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innovative and competitive.
Contents
Biographies.........................................................................................................................9
1. Introduction to Polar Law
Natalia Loukacheva..........................................................................................................13
1.1 What is Polar law?................................................................................................13
Further reading:..........................................................................................................22
Questions:...................................................................................................................22
2. Environmental Protection in the Arctic and Antarctica
Timo Koivurova................................................................................................................23
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................23
2.2 The Development of International Environmental Law..........................................24
2.3 General Comparisons of the Polar Regions from the Perspective
of Environmental Protection...........................................................................27
2.4 Overview of the Two Polar Regimes....................................................................29
2.5 Environmental Protection: Similarities and Differences in the
Polar Regions..................................................................................................34
2.6 Similarities between the Environmental Protection Approaches of the
Polar Regimes.................................................................................................38
2.7 Emerging Issues and Conclusions........................................................................40
Further reading:..........................................................................................................43
Questions:...................................................................................................................43
3. Law of the Sea and Governance of Shipping in the Arctic and Antarctic
David L. VanderZwaag.....................................................................................................45
3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................45
3.2 Law of the Sea Realities and Challenges..............................................................47
3.3 Governance of Polar Shipping: Similarities and Polarities...................................55
3.4 Conclusion............................................................................................................62
Further reading:..........................................................................................................64
Questions:...................................................................................................................64
4. The Management of Living Marine Resources in the Polar Regions
Tavis Potts........................................................................................................................65
4.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................65
4.2 Antarctic Fisheries Exploitation...........................................................................66
4.3 The Development of CCAMLR...........................................................................67
4.4 Ecosystem and Precautionary Approaches in CCAMLR.....................................70
4.5 The Management of Fisheries in the Arctic..........................................................73
4.6 Conclusion and Key Points..................................................................................76
Further reading:..........................................................................................................78
Questions:...................................................................................................................79
5. Economies and Business in the Arctic Region
Joan Nymand Larsen........................................................................................................81
5.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................81
5.2 Economic Analysis and the Northern Economy...................................................82
5.3 Economic Development in the North...................................................................87
5.4 Resource Extraction in the North: Costs and Benefits..........................................93
5.5 Conclusion: Challenges and Emerging Issues of Northern Economies................97
Further reading:..........................................................................................................99
Questions:.................................................................................................................100
6. Oil and Gas and Mining Development in the Arctic: Legal Issues
Nigel Bankes...................................................................................................................101
6.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................101
6.2 The Resource Endowment..................................................................................102
6.3 Ownership of Oil and Gas and Mineral Resources.............................................105
6.4 Oil and Gas Regimes: Northwest Territories (N.W.T.) and Nunavut.................107
6.5 Greenland............................................................................................................110
6.6 Mining Regimes..................................................................................................114
6.7 Sweden................................................................................................................116
6.8 The Oil and Gas and Mining Industry and the Environment...............................120
6.9 Conclusions.........................................................................................................122
Further reading:........................................................................................................123
7. Arctic Governance
Natalia Loukacheva........................................................................................................125
7.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................125
7.2 The Arctic Governance Framework....................................................................126
7.3 Arctic Cooperation, Institutional Complex and Actors.......................................127
7.4 The Right to Autonomy......................................................................................132
7.5 Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Autonomy............................................................135
7.6 Challenges of Northern Governance...................................................................139
7.7 Conclusion..........................................................................................................144
Further reading:........................................................................................................146
Questions:.................................................................................................................146
8. Human Rights and Indigenous Rights
Gudmundur Alfredsson...................................................................................................147
8.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................147
8.2 Human Rights.....................................................................................................148
8.3 Indigenous Rights...............................................................................................157
8.4 Draft Nordic Sami Convention...........................................................................158
8.5 Right of Self-Determination................................................................................158
8.6 International Monitoring.....................................................................................162
8.7 Concluding Words..............................................................................................167
Further reading:........................................................................................................168
Questions:.................................................................................................................170
9. Greenland’s Self-Government
Mininnguaq Kleist...........................................................................................................171
9.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................171
9.2 The History of Greenland – a Short Version.......................................................172
9.3 The Home Rule Act of 1979...............................................................................173
9.4 The Societal and Economic Development of Greenland.....................................174
9.5 The Introduction of Self-Government.................................................................176
9.6 The Greenland-Danish Self-Government Commission.......................................177
9.7 The Act on Greenland Self-Government of 2009...............................................179
9.8 The Main Provisions within the Act...................................................................184
9.9 Conclusions.........................................................................................................194
Further reading:........................................................................................................197
Questions:.................................................................................................................198
10. Inuit of Alaska: Current Issues
Dalee Sambo Dorough...................................................................................................199
10.1 Introduction......................................................................................................199
10.2 Background and History...................................................................................199
10.3 The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971..........................................202
10.4 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples......................................210
10.5 The Right of Self-Determination......................................................................210
10.6 Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Rights............................................................212
10.7 UNCLOS and Climate Change.........................................................................214
10.8 Conclusion and Recommendations...................................................................216
Further reading:........................................................................................................218
Questions:.................................................................................................................219
11. Chukotka’s Indigenous Peoples: Issues and Prospects for Development
Galina Diatchkova..........................................................................................................221
11.1 Introduction......................................................................................................221
11.2 Indigenous Peoples and the Natural Environment............................................222
11.3 The Soviet Period.............................................................................................223
11.4 The Post-Soviet Period – Indigenous Movement.............................................224
11.5 Media as an Important Resource for Indigenous Development........................226
11.6 Wildlife Management.......................................................................................227
11.7 Indigenous Representation on Various Government Bodies............................229
11.8 Conclusions......................................................................................................230
Further reading:........................................................................................................232
Questions:.................................................................................................................233
Summary
Natalia Loukacheva........................................................................................................235
Sammenfatning...............................................................................................................239
Samantekt.......................................................................................................................243

Biographies
Gudmundur Alfredsson, S.J.D., Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social
Sciences, Polar Law Program, University of Akureyri, Iceland and Faculty of
Law, University of Strasbourg, France. Editor-in-Chief, The Yearbook of
Polar Law, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Expert member of the Danish-
Greenlandic Self-Governance Commission (2004–2008); member of the
Working Group on Constitutional and International Law of the all-Green-
landic Self-Governance Commission (2001–03), and member of a working
group of the North-Atlantic Group in the Danish Folketing (2003–04). The
author of many publications in the area of international human rights law. E-
mail: alfredsson at orange.fr

Nigel Bankes is a Professor of Law at the University of Calgary, Calgary,
Alberta, Canada where he holds the chair in natural resources law. He
was the lead author of Ch.6 “Legal Systems” in the Arctic Human Devel-
opment Report, (Akureyri: Stefansson Arctic Institute, 2004). He is the
editor of the Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law published by
the International Bar Association. E-mail: ndbankes at ucalgary.ca

Galina Diatchkova, Ph.D. student in anthropology with research interests
in Chukotka’s indigenous cultures, indigenous peoples’ rights and sus-
tainable development, Institute of History of the Far East, Branch of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russian Federation. E-mail:
galinadiatchkova at hotmail.com

Mininnguaq Kleist, M.A., University of Aarhus (Denmark); member of
the Constitutional and International Law working group under the North
Atlantic Group of the Danish Folketing (2002–2004); member Secretary
in the North Atlantic Group in the Danish Folketing (2005–2007); special
advisor to the Chairman of the Working Group on Constitutional and
International Law under the Greenland-Danish Self-Government Com-
mission (2005–2008); the Head of Department in the Self-Government
Office under the Home Rule Government (2007–2009); the Head of Of-
fice in the Department of Foreign Affairs under the Government of
Greenland since 2009 and a Member of the Board of the University of
Greenland since 2008. The author of some publications on Greenland’s
political and legal developments. E-mail: MIKL at nanoq.gl
10 Polar Law Textbook
Timo Koivurova, LL.D., Research Professor/Director, Northern Institute
for Environmental and Minority Law/Arctic Centre, University of Lapland,
Rovaniemi, Finland. Editor-in-Chief, The Yearbook of Polar Law, Mar-
tinus Nijhoff Publishers. The author of Environmental Impact Assessment
in the Arctic: A Study of International Legal Norms (Aldershot: Ashgate
Publishing Ltd., 2002) and of numerous publications on international envi-
ronmental law in the Polar Regions. E-mail: timo.koivurova at ulapland.fi

Natalia Loukacheva, Ph.D., S.J.D., Director, Polar Law Program, Univer-
sity of Akureyri, Iceland and Research Associate, Munk Centre for Interna-
tional Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The au-
thor of The Arctic Promise: Legal and Political Autonomy of Greenland
and Nunavut (Toronto: University of Toronto, 2007) and of many other
publications on legal and political issues in the Arctic. Special Editor, The
Yearbook of Polar Law, Vol. 2, 2009. E-mail: natalial at unak.is or
n.loukacheva at utoronto.ca

Joan Nymand Larsen, Ph.D., senior scientist, Stefansson Arctic Institute,
and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Polar Law Program,
University of Akureyri, Iceland. Dr. Nymand Larsen is an economist and
the author of many publications on economic development and living
conditions in the North. She was project manager and co-editor of the
Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR 2004), and leads the Arctic
Social Indicators project. E-mail: jnl at unak.is

Tavis Potts, Ph.D., Principal Investigator – Oceans Governance and Theme
Leader – Prosperity from Marine Ecosystems, Centre for Coastal and Oceans
Governance Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Scottish Ma-
rine Institute Oban, Argyll, Northern Scotland, U.K. Dr. Potts is a geogra-
pher with an interest in marine policy, political science, and the Polar Re-
gions. Dr. Potts has policy and field experience in both the Arctic and the
Antarctic. He is the author of several publications on marine management
and resources in the Polar Regions. E-mail: Tavis.Potts at sams.ac.uk

Dalee Sambo Dorough (an Inuk), Ph.D., University of British Columbia,
Faculty of Law (2002); MALD The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy
(1991); Assistant Professor, Political Science, University of Alaska, Anchor-
age; Alaskan Member, Inuit Circumpolar Council Advisory Committee on
UN Issues; Member, Board of Trustees of UN Voluntary Fund for Indige-
nous Populations; and Member, International Law Association Committee
on Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Dr. Dorough has a long history in the de-
velopment of international indigenous human rights standards at the UN,
OAS, ILO and other international fora. Her interests include human rights
law, public international law, the political and legal relations between nation-
states and aboriginal peoples, international relations, and Alaska Native self-