Press Release

Wednesday 2 August 2021

London. UK.   Steven Haines, Professor of Public International Law at the University of Greenwich, London, and Trustee of Human Rights at Sea has published an article titled ‘Developing Human Rights at Sea’ as part of the Ocean Yearbook Volume 35 Issue 1 which is now available to download via Open Access paid for by the charity. It is the first time such a chapter has appeared in the Yearbook.

Human Rights at Sea has paid for and secured Open Access to all interested persons for this significant contributory section to the Yearbook, and which builds on the substantial work already undertaken by distinguished academic members of the HRAS Advisory Board, namely Prof. Irini Papanicolopulu, Prof. Anna Petrig and Dr. Sofia Galani for the increasingly topical issue and research area of ‘human rights at sea.

We believe that open access will magnify the narrative of human rights at sea and reach out to those who are directly impacted by human rights developments at sea but also the potential victims of human rights abuses at sea such as seafarers, fishers, migrants and refugees and whoever transits the oceans and for whatever purpose, irrespective of status and who would not otherwise have access to the Yearbook’s scholarship.

The paper traces the emergence of the concept of ‘Human Rights at Sea’ as a distinct narrative by offering an academic analysis of the current position that Human Rights at Sea occupies within the broader body of Public International Law.  It goes on to suggest ways of taking Human Rights at Sea advocacy forward, in particular describing the Geneva Declaration on Human Rights at Sea and how this should prove to be influential within the United Nations Human Rights, Oceans Law and Maritime institutions.

While there is still much to be done to achieve a general global recognition of the importance of human rights at sea, this paper admirably sets the scene and covers its development in the past decade and, in particular in the period since HRAS’s founding in April 2014.

Prof. Steven Haines commented

“I am obviously very pleased to see the Developing Human Rights at Sea paper published in the last few days.  The Ocean Yearbook is an important annual publication on ocean governance and this has well and truly placed Human Rights at Sea on the academic and policy agendas.  It is also most timely, as we focus on the preparation for the formal launch of the full version of the Geneva Declaration on Human Rights at Sea in September.  Each of these developments is an important marker on road to ensuring respect for Human Rights at Sea.”

Citation

Haines, S. (2021). Developing Human Rights at Sea, Ocean Yearbook Online, 35(1), 18-51. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/22116001_03501003

ENDS.