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52 Rev. BDI 116 (2019)
Forum Shopping within the Context of Deep Sea Mining: Towards Sponsoring States of Convenience?

handle is hein.journals/belgeint52 and id is 116 raw text is: REVUE BELGE DE DROIT INTERNATIONAL 2019/1-2 - Editions BRUYLANT, Bruxelles FORUM SHOPPING WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF DEEP SEA MINING: TOWARDS SPONSORING STATES OF CONVENIENCE? BY Dr. Klaas WILLAERT* ABSTRACT Beyond the boundaries of national jurisdiction, the seabed and its mineral resources are governed by a complex international regime, which determines by whom and under what conditions these natural resources can be exploited. However, it must be noted that companies wishing to pursue activities in the Area must be sponsored by a state, so national legislation defining the condi- tions to obtain a certificate of sponsorship also plays an important role. As will be demonstrated in this article, the content of these national laws is very diverse though, which can create possible mismatches and may induce deep sea mining enterprises to change their sponsoring state. Therefore, the phenomenon of flags of convenience in shipping does not seem far off: depending on the content of the national legislation on deep sea mining and how strictly it is enforced, juridical persons could strategically choose to register their company in a certain state and apply for sponsorship there. In this article, a theoretical analysis of this hypoth- esis is followed by a comparative evaluation of the national legislation on deep sea mining of two carefully selected states (Belgium and the Cook Islands), in order to determine whether forum shopping within the context of deep sea mining is legally possible and whether widespread differences between national laws can urge deep sea mining companies to go down that road. Furthermore, the conse- quences of such developments are pondered and possible solutions are suggested. RESUMt Au-dela des frontieres de la juridiction nationale, les fonds marins profonds et ses mineraux sont regis par un regime international, qui determine par qui et dans quelles conditions ces ressources naturelles peuvent tre exploitees. Toutefois, il convient de noter que les entreprises qui souhaitent poursuivre des activites dans la Zone doivent obtenir le patronage d'un Etat. Par cons6quent, la l6gislation nationale dafinissant les conditions d'obtention d'un patronage joue 6galement un rble important. Comme le d6montrera cet article, le contenu de ces lois natio- nales est cependant tres diversifi6, ce qui peut creer des discrepances et peut inciter les entreprises minieres de haute mer a changer son Etat de patronage. * Department of European, Public and International Law -Faculty of Law and Criminology- Ghent University - Belgium.