AbstractThis paper analyses the current challenges to navigation rights and high seas freedoms in the Indo-Pacific, with a particular focus on the South China Sea. First, it sets out the possible actions the Indo-Pacific States could take to challenge what they believe are China’s excessive maritime claims that pose a threat to the rules-based legal order set out in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”).

According to the 2022 annual reports of the imo and regional piracy reporting centers in Southeast Asia, the number of incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships (aras) in the Singapore Strait was the highest in the world. However, when these reports are examined in light of the definitions of piracy and aras, the number of incidents in the reports is greatly exaggerated. Consequently, changes should be made to the reports of incidents so that they more accurately reflect the legal definitions of piracy and aras. In addition, States bordering the Singapore Strait and ship owners and operators should take steps to reduce the number of incidents of unauthorized boarding of ships transiting the Singapore Strait.

This article examines the impact of COVID-19 on the international regulation of merchant shipping. First, it provides an overview of the international regulatory framework established by the WHO, IMO and ILO to respond to the impact of global health emergencies on international merchant shipping. It then examines the responses of these organisations and the shipping industry to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on merchant shipping. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that global health emergencies require enhanced preparedness and response planning and cooperation between the IMO, WHO and ILO, which includes consultation and cooperation with global shipping associations and seafarers' unions. The objective of the preparedness and response planning should be to keep maritime supply chains open while preventing the spread of infectious disease from ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore or shore-to-ship. Equally important, the enhanced cooperation at the global level must be matched by enhanced inter-agency cooperation at the national level.

The South China Sea has been on the agenda of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since the early 1990s, and it has been the cause for both unity and disunity within the organization. This chapter provides an overview of the history of ASEAN and describes how it has evolved since its establishment in 1967. It describes the ASEAN bodies and the ASEAN-led mechanisms that deal with the South China Sea disputes, and how these bodies and mechanisms have addressed the South China Sea disputes in the "ASEAN Way". It then summarizes the history of the negotiations between ASEAN and China leading to the Declaration of the Conduct and their ongoing negotiations on a Code of Conduct. Finally, the chapter considers the potential impact of ASEAN's outlook on the Indo-Pacific on the South China Sea disputes.

There is a crucial difference between creating a treaty, expressing consent to be bound by it and bringing it into force. The focus of this chapter is on completing the process of consenting to be bound and bringing the treaty into force, once the decision to become a party has been taken and treaty officials are asked to prepare the documentation and take care of procedures. The process is examined at both the international and domestic levels. It concludes by considering the action needed immediately after entry into force, in particular publication of the treaty text and registration at the UN under Article 102 of the UN Charter.

As well as being a concluding chapter of the Handbook, the chapter provides succinct analysis of the future of treaty practice and identifies factors that may contribute to future change. It then looks at how these influential factors are changing treaty practice now, the direction those changes might take in the future and how Treaty Offices may best prepare themselves to handle the predictable and the unpredictable challenges. It emphasises that treaty practice is not merely an adjunct to the law of treaties; it is a specialisation in its own right in which treaty professionals participate in evolutions in practice as well as react to external developments.

For any State or IO, the accurate and efficient management of treaty records is of fundamental importance. This chapter looks at the how’s and whys of keeping treaty records, where the information comes from and what treaty officials do with it. It looks at ways of managing all treaty-related information and permanently preserving treaties and associated documents, and what one needs to consider when doing so. It addresses what different users might need treaty information for, and the ways in which they might use it. It looks first at internal users such as the Treaty Office and those closely associated with it, such as legal advisers and policy makers within the government or IO. It then considers the needs of ‘external users‘ in effect, everyone else. Lastly, it considers the role of depositaries.

Evolution of the marine protected area discourse into an area-based management tool may provide an avenue for a more progressive approach to protection of the Spratly seamounts. A first step could be the recognition of the Spratlys as an ecologically or biologically significant area (EBSA) under the Convention on Biological Diversity. This purely scientific recognition exercise would be without prejudice to the sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction of coastal States or State claiming sovereignty over the islands. Furthermore, it is up to the States concerned to later agree on specific restriction on activities in these areas as deemed necessary. This article shows that there are sufficient published data to justify that the Spratly seamounts meet the scientific criteria of an EBSA. However, it also proposes areas that may be prioritised on the basis of distinctive species composition of reef-building corals in the South China Sea.

The chapter focuses on a technical and yet imperative question of why organisation of treaty work matters. It discusses what can go wrong if a State or IO has poor treaty organisation. The chapter also address questions related to the functions of the Treaty Office, where it should be located, who should work in it and its important role in in maintaining good organisation of treaty work.

This Handbook aims to provide practical guidance on good treaty practice. It presents a range of examples from the practice of several States and international organisations and explains the actions that need to be taken to create a new treaty, bring it into force, operate it, amend it and wind it up, on both the international and the domestic plane. It also explores what constitutes good treaty practice, and develops generic principles or criteria against which to evaluate these examples. It provides a useful analytical tool to enable each government and international organisation to identify and develop the best treaty practice for their circumstances, recognising that one size does not necessarily fit all. It will be of interest to those working with treaties and treaty procedures in governments, international organisations and legal practice, as well as legal academics and students wishing to gain insight into the realities of treaty practice.

Indonesia is the world's largest and most important archipelagic State. Because it sits as the fulcrum between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, passage through and over the Indonesian archipelago is critically important to naval powers and maritime commerce. Indonesia played a significant role in negotiating the modern law of the sea, especially the regimes governing archipelagic States and straits used for international navigation. As a major beneficiary of the new law of the sea, Indonesia recognises that it is in its national interest to promote the rules-based legal order established in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (unclos). Consequently, Indonesia continues to work with other States and with the International Maritime Organization (imo) to develop the legal regimes established in unclos. It has taken the lead in working with the imo on the designation of archipelagic sea lanes through its archipelagic waters, and it is now working with the imo to adopt measures to protect the marine environment and enhance the safety of navigation in the routes used for international navigation through its archipelago.

The chapter provides a general overview of the Handbook and identifies those who may be interested in and/or benefit from it. It explains that the aim of the Handbook is not only to describe treaty practice as it is, but also to suggest how to do it well. It explains what treaty practice is and sets out proposed criteria for good practice, with plenty of examples that meet these criteria. The chapter also introduces a useful analytical tool to enable each government and IO to identify and develop the best treaty practice for their circumstances, recognising that one size does not necessarily fit all.

The chapter focuses on the distinction between treaties and other kinds of international instruments. It addresses issues such as why it is necessary to distinguish between treaties and other kinds of international instruments, and what can go wrong when a State or an IO fails to do so. It identifies other kinds of international instruments that are not treaties, their binding status, different scenarios in which it may be difficult to differentiate such instruments and how to overcome such situations. The chapter also offers some suggestions on handling treaties and other kinds of international instruments.

The chapter addresses the phases in making a new treaty: negotiation, drafting and production of the text. It discusses how to prepare for treaty negotiations and how to influence the drafting effectively, differences in the making of multilateral and bilateral treaties, and identifying the main actors involved in negotiating and drafting a new treaty. It explains in detail how to structure a treaty text, including title, preamble, final clauses, testimonium, signature block. It then examines the process of preparing and producing a treaty text for signature, including adoption, translation, formatting, binding and sealing. At each stage the role of the Treaty Office is highlighted. The importance of Full Powers is explained, as well as how to produce them and when it is permissible to dispense with them. Lastly, the chapter provides useful checklists for Treaty Offices and depositaries in making new bilateral and multilateral treaties.