Protection of People at Sea

The Protection of People at Sea project will address the emerging issue of how to protect all people who are at sea and their human rights. It will focus on the jurisdiction of States for the purpose of protecting people at sea. In particular, the project will address the following three aspects (a) how notions of “jurisdiction” in human rights law, mostly developed with regards to situations on land, operate at sea; (b) how the concept of jurisdiction under the law of the sea, pointing to allocation of power among States, affects the human rights obligations of these States; and (c) how notions of “jurisdiction” under the law of the sea and human rights law can be combined to maximise protection for people at sea.

The project will provide guidance to States and other key actors on the scope of their obligations vis-à-vis people at sea. It will engage with an emerging topic that is attracting more and more attention from scholars and national and international institutions alike and take a leading role in the development of international law.

The supervisor is the New Zealand member of the ILA Committee on the Protection of People at Sea engaged in the codification and reform of international law in this area.

The candidate should hold an LLM or MPhil in Law degree (or equivalent) specialising in comparative, international, or transnational aspects of human rights law or the law of the sea (with a GPA of 8 or above measured in accordance with the Waikato Grading System).

The successful applicant should be eligible to enrol at the University of Waikato (please check PhD enrolment requirements).