https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/26182 2026-04-11T03:05:35Z 2026-04-11T03:05:35Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145104 2026-03-23T14:59:01Z 2025-05-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Risks to our maritime rights Abstract: The Conscience episode is of grave concern in relation to maritime security and Malta’s coastal maritime interests, and it merits reflection. Under international law, coastal or island states are in a privileged position as they are entitled to a range of rights in the waters adjacent to their coast. Many are familiar with the 12 nautical mile territorial sea. Beyond this is the less known contiguous zone. The Conscience episode does not seem to give rise to issues relating to Malta’s enforcement powers in the area. More importantly are Malta’s potential rights resulting from its entitlement to an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) located adjacent to the territorial sea. Malta has been over the last years carefully preparing to exploit the rights associated with this maritime area. [excerpt]

2025-05-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144639 2026-03-05T10:35:56Z 2026-02-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Protect the night sky Abstract: The night sky should be recognised as a cultural, scientific and natural heritage which should be protected and conserved for current and future generations. For a long time, the stars served humanity well: a calendar and the first GPS to navigate the ocean. They also inspired storytelling of gods and heroes. Jupiter and Mars for example, gods for the Roman state until they were replaced by Christianity and Perseus and Orion, heroes in Greek mythology. The stars inspired astronomers like Copernicus and Galileo who revolutionised our thinking by displacing earth as being at the centre of the universe and Giordano who extended our understanding of the universe by proposing that the stars were distant suns. In Malta, celestial objects are referred to in some proverbs, words of wisdom based on experience passed on to us by our forefathers, such as: for weather purposes, “il-kwiekeb tegħmeż għandna r-riħ”, when the stars flicker expect the weather to become windy or stormy; in agriculture, “iż-żrigħ u t-tilqim fil-qamar qadim”, farmers should sow seeds and graft trees when there is a waning moon.

2026-02-01T00:00:00Z Borg, Simone Spiteri, Louise https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/132944 2025-03-07T13:51:47Z 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Environmental law in Malta Authors: Borg, Simone; Spiteri, Louise Abstract: Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this book provides ready access to legislation and practice concerning the environment in Malta. A general introduction covers geographic considerations, political, social and cultural aspects of environmental study, the sources and principles of environmental law, environmental legislation, and the role of public authorities. The main body of the book deals first with laws aimed directly at protecting the environment from pollution in specific areas such as air, water, waste, soil, noise, and radiation. Then, a section on nature and conservation management covers protection of natural and cultural resources such as monuments, landscapes, parks and reserves, wildlife, agriculture, forests, fish, subsoil, and minerals. Further treatment includes the application of zoning and land-use planning, rules on liability, and administrative and judicial remedies to environmental issues. There is also an analysis of the impact of international and regional legislation and treaties on environmental regulation.

2010-01-01T00:00:00Z Borg, Simone https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/132815 2025-03-05T13:02:28Z 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Conservation of the marine environment and the exploitation of the seabed : the ocean, climate change and marine biodiversity of the benthic zone : joining the dots Authors: Borg, Simone Abstract: The application of an integrated approach is widely acknowledged as an essential aspect of any policy and legal regime for the conservation of natural resources. The intricate relationship between living marine resources, climate and the ocean has been repeatedly stressed at the scientific and even at the political level. The concept of the «planetary boundaries» has highlighted the inextricable relationship via which the planet «regulates itself» as one holistic ecosystem. In practice, however, it remains somewhat confined to science and political rhetoric. Under international law, climate change, the ocean and marine biodiversity continue to be regulated distinctly from one another. Notwithstanding the international community’s renewed focus in recent years to regulate more ambitiously and effectively climate change as well as ocean governance, including the conservation of marine biodiversity and habitats, international norm-making continues to evolve in «silos». The presentation highlights the urgent need for international law to adopt an effective integrated approach in regulating one aspect of ocean governance namely, the sustainable use of the living resources of the seabed, threatened by the negative impacts of climate change. Climate change is a threat multiplier of current problems relating to the seabed (e. g., coral bleaching) as well as the cause of new risks (e. g., breakdown of methane hydrates) to the ocean and its resources. The paper will first examine applicable international law sources in search of applicable multilateral norms and whether they are fit for purpose in protecting the ocean from the risks of climate change. The paper aims to demonstrate that while the multitude of existing international norms, if well implemented, would greatly enhance the health of the oceans and its resources, «innovative» substantive and procedural norms may ensure better resilience and preparedness to adapt ocean governance to the effects of climate change. Lack of action in this direction would jeopardize sustainable ocean governance according to the rule of law. Using the Conference theme on the conservation of the marine environment and the exploitation of the seabed, the paper in its conclusion will suggest possible legal techniques that would dovetail the application of International legal principles/norms with mitigation and adaptation measures required to harness and where possible prevent oceanic geophysical, chemical and biological changes that climate change may cause and the effects which these changes have upon humanity and biodiversity. The inclusion of these norms into the Implementation Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, currently under negotiation, or a new legal instrument altogether, may serve to generate, a new multilateral legal instrument that effectively integrates the regulation of seabed as a habitat of marine biodiversity and climate change

2019-01-01T00:00:00Z