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As the Arctic thaws, legal interest heats up

By Jason Siegel

Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles plans on Oct. 3 to host one of the first law school conferences in the country focused on Arctic sovereignty. (see press release)

Issues will focus on territorial and security claims and how Arctic sovereignty relates to the international environmental law and indigenous and human rights.

Southwestern University School of Law Dean Bryant Garth said the topic was the brainchild of Austen Parrish, the school's vice dean for academic affairs and professor, who grew up in Canada.

"He's particularly sensitive to global environmental issues that affect Canada and the U.S.," he said. "There's also concerns on global warming and quite a lot of attention paid to resources that might be there, which makes this no longer an esoteric topic but one that actually involves real economic and social issues." The day-long symposium will feature prominent legal scholars and experts from law schools in the United States and Canada.

One of those speakers is John Norton Moore, professor of law and director of the Center for Oceans Law & Policy at the University of Virginia Law School, who was U.S. ambassador for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. The Convention was signed by more than 155 sovereign states several decades ago and governs rights to the oceans.

"I will be talking about the history of the negotiations and the articles in the treaty that relate to the Arctic, as well as what some of those problems are," he said.

Other speakers at the symposium are:

? Suzanne Lalonde, professeure agrégée at the Université de Montrèal

? Larry A. Mayer, professor and director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire

? Ted L. McDorman, professor of law at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law

? J. Ashley Roach, of the Office of the Legal Advisor at the U.S. Department of State

? Günther Handl, professor of public international law at Tulane University Law School

? Noah D. Hall, assistant professor of law at Wayne State University Law School

? Wil C.G. Burns, senior fellow at Santa Clara University School of Law

? Rebecca M. Bratspies, associate professor of City University of New York School of Law

? Rosemary Cooper, political coordinator at Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

? Sara Krakoff, associate professor of law at the University of Colorado School of Law

? Sophie Thériault, professeure adjointe at the Universitè de Ottawa

Southwestern's Garth, Parrish, professor Robert Lutz and professor Angela Riley also will be speaking. The symposium, called "Arctic Sovereignty: Cold Facts, Hot Issues," takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Southwestern's campus in Los Angeles. Cost is $40-$75, with CLE credit available.

-- Amanda Bronstad

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on August 22, 2008 (boomark / email).