Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship 1978 Custom and Land-Based Pollution of the High Seas James E. Hickey Jr. Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/faculty_scholarship Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation James E. Hickey Jr., Custom and Land-Based Pollution of the High Seas, 15 San Diego L. Rev. 409 (1978) Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/faculty_scholarship/1212 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Custom and Land-Based Pollution of the High Seas* JAMES E. HICKEY, JR.** Until very recently, States have paid little attention to the control of pollution originatingon land which threatensthe high seas. However, in the past few years the international community has taken the first tentative steps toward an in- ternationalorder for the control of land-based high seas pol- lution. This Article examines the foundations in customary international law for these steps. In particular,it reviews evidence of State practicein analogousareas of international law, the protests of States, treaties, judicial decisions, ac- tivities of the United Nations, declarationsof international bodies and published commentary to determine whether ex- isting customary internationallaw norms are applicable to the pollution of the high seas from land-basedsources. INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS The purpose of this Article is to explore existing legal sources to determine whether customary international law applies to land- based pollution of the high seas.