The Application of Concept of Adaptive Rule of Law for Oceans in Global Ocean Governance
The deepening development of globalization and the interconnection of marine systems have created a de-mand for global ocean governance.As the international community increasingly relies on a stable maritime legal or-der,there are more and more countries using the law of the sea as a tool to compete with each other.Coupled with a series of environmental crises caused by climate change and technological advancements,the objective conditions of the ocean have also changed.The law of the sea system centered on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has shown certain incompatibility in global ocean governance,including the implementation dilemma of tradi-tional security issues concerning national survival,and the institutional deficiencies in dealing with non-traditional security issues related to the interests of all mankind.The Pufendorf's philosophy of natural law emphasizes the u-niversal binding force of human rationality and requires the social subjects to undertake the general obligation to not damage the legitimate rights and interests of others.States also bear similar obligations to respect the rights of other subjects and limit their own power in the international society.The social obligations with such negative reconcilia-tion characteristics are manifested as fairness.That is,the social subjects cannot claim demands that exceed the reasonable range,and need to be judged impartially in a neutral situation.The principle of fairness essentially em-phasizes that the rules should be consistent with the social relations in historical succession,and acknowledges the necessity for rules to adapt to reality.The premise of adaptation is to recognize challenges and uncertainties brought by changes in the natural environment and international situation,in order to responds flexibly to changes.Moreo-ver,the concept of adaptation also mutually corroborates with the Taoist philosophy in traditional Chinese philoso-phy,increasing the rationality of this concept.By embedding the concept of adaptation into the law of the sea sys-tem,it not only affirms the fundamental theories derived from the concepts of nation-states and freedom of the seas,but also complements and constrains the concepts of sovereignty and freedom,jointly constituting the theoretical foundation of the maritime legal order.The core framework of the concept of adaptive rule of law for oceans is open rules facing the future,encouraging the multiple participation of countries,international organizations,and other actors outside of international legal subjects in ocean governance.This concept also requires an evolutionary inter-pretation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in accordance with the intentions of contracting par-ties,objective reality,and basic principles of the law of the sea,facilitating more flexible adjustments to rights and obligations.The concept of adaptive rule of law for oceans possesses internal vitality,underlining the use of an open and flexible framework of rules to reduce political confrontations between countries,balancing the diverse needs of stakeholders,and coordinating the law of the sea with other fields of international law.It can provide reference for solving such marine crises as the South China Sea dispute,Japan's dumping of nuclear contaminated water,and similar problems that may arise in the future.China should give consideration to its own interests and collective in-terests of international community,adjust position and attitude at the proper time,realize mutual coordination be-tween domestic sea-related management and global ocean governance by establishing an adaptive domestic maritime legal system and transforming the legal logic of participating in international ocean governance.
concept of adaptationrule of law for oceansUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Seaglobal ocean governance
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
