Washington International Law Journal Volume 29 Number 2 4-7-2020 The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal: A Legal Misfit in Global Ship Recycling Jurisprudence Ishtiaque Ahmed Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wilj Part of the Environmental Law Commons, and the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Ishtiaque Ahmed, The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal: A Legal Misfit in Global Ship Recycling Jurisprudence, 29 Wash. L. Rev. 411 (2020). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wilj/vol29/iss2/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at UW Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington International Law Journal by an authorized editor of UW Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Copyright © 2020 Washington International Law Journal Association THE BASEL CONVENTION ON THE CONTROL OF TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENTS OF HAZARDOUS WASTES AND THEIR DISPOSAL: A LEGAL MISFIT IN GLOBAL SHIP RECYCLING JURISPRUDENCE Ishtiaque Ahmed† Abstract: The Basel Convention has tempted developed nations into the practice of exporting hazardous waste into undeveloped nations’ territories simply for money in the name of recycling. Being extremely business unfriendly, particularly for the recycling industry, this convention has not been welcomed by many developing nations, leading to serious policy and legal uncertainty in those jurisdictions. However, in the absence of any dedicated, enforceable international legal instrument, the Basel Convention currently remains the foundation of ship-recycling jurisprudence in the domestic courts of all dominant, ship-recycling states and the rest of the world, and the basis for curbing the movement of end-of-life ships proceeding to undeveloped states for recycling.