The International Law Commission’s Study Group on Sea Level Rise in Relation to International Law and Its Impact on International Law

Abstract

This chapter analyses the working method followed so far by the Study Group of the International Law Commission in its work on the topic of ‘Sea Level Rise in Relation to International Law’. More precisely, it identifies and discusses two questions: (1) whether suggesting ‘practical solutions’ to States for dealing with the impacts of sea level rise on maritime zones (i.e. one of the two main tasks of the Study Group) falls within the mandate of the International Law Commission, and (2) whether the practical solutions suggested by the Study Group have already had an impact on State practice and opinio juris. In this respect, the chapter argues that the Study Group's main contribution lies not so much in its support for the idea that the Pacific Island States’ interest in maintaining their sovereignty and jurisdiction over maritime zones is best assured by adopting a teleological interpretation of the LOSC, but rather in its promotion of a process of formation of a customary rule, though this process has not yet been consolidated.