Tuesday 3 November

Venue: TBD

Networking Reception (for speakers only)

Program and times TBD 

Wednesday 4 November 2026   

Venue: UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Teorifagbygget, hus 6, Auditorium 3

Access livestreaming for all sessions on Tuesday (link will be provided later)

08:30 Registration & coffee  

09:00 Welcome addresses 

9:15-10:15 Keynote by Prof. Nikolas Rajkovic

Moderator: Vito De Lucia, Director, Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea  

 

10:15-10:30 Coffee   

 

10:30-12:15 Panel 1: Questions on Security, Enforcement, and Naval Warfare
Moderator: TBD

Cornell Overfield, ‘Reviewing State Practice Towards Sanctioned Vessels without Nationality in the “Shadow Fleet”’

Efthymios Papastavridis ‘Cooperation in Maritime Law Enforcement Vs Freedom of Navigation’

Andrea Caligiuri ‘Freedom of Navigation and Unilateral Coercive Measures’

Shani Friedman ‘Governance of maritime security as a global public good – the case of the Red Sea Area’

Discussion (45 mins)  

 

12:15 Group picture   

12:30-13:30 Lunch 

 

13:30-15:15 Panel 2: New Technologies and Scientific Advances in and for the Oceans
Moderator: TBD

Guri Eriksen, Melania Borit, Marianna Osokina, Jorge Santos, and Henrik Ringbom ‘Fisheries law, alternative futures and autonomous fishing technologies – Towards a new methodological Approach’

Maria Inês Gameiro ‘Technological acceleration and submarine cables’

Tihao Zeng ‘IWC at 80: BBNJ Agreement, Science and Evolving Epistemic Mandate

Barbara Stepien ‘Sea drones and Naval Blockades’

Discussion (45 mins)  

 

15:15-15:30 Coffee  

 

15:30-17:15 Panel 3: Deep Seabed Mining

Moderator: TBD

Valentin Schatz ‘How Resilient is the International Seabed Authority? Obligations of States Parties to UNCLOS to Enforce Part XI of UNCLOS against Companies Involved in Unilateral Activities in the Area’

Ekaterina Antsygina ‘Duty to Cooperate in the Context of Deep-Sea Mining’

Millicent McCreath ‘Architectural strains in the Regulation of seabed mining’

Discussion (45 mins)  

 

19.30 Conference dinner (open by registration) – venue TBD

Thursday 5 November 2025  

Venue: UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Teorifagbygget, hus 6, Auditorium 3

Access livestreaming for all sessions on Wednesday: (link will be provided later)

9:30-10:30 Keynote by Prof. Karen Scott

Moderator: TBD

 

10:30-10:45 Coffee   

 

11:00-12:30 Panel 4: Regime Interaction and the Law of the Sea

Moderator:  TBD

Nina Boss, Max Schaetzel, and Yi Zhao ‘Catching Waves: Exploration of the data governance regime of the BBNJ’

Xiaojing Wang ‘Procedural Precaution and the “Not-Undermining” Principle: Reinterpreting Article 5(2) of the BBNJ Agreement in the Context of ISA Interaction’

Hope Elizabeth Tracey ‘Heterogeneity, Discretion, and Ambiguity: A Systematic Analysis of the Relational Governance Provisions within the BBNJ Agreement and Implications for Implementation’

Holly Leung ‘Integrating Law of the Sea and the Law of Naval Warfare: An Evaluation of Possible Models’

Discussion (45 mins) 

 

12:300-13:30 Lunch  

 

13:30-15:15 Panel 5: The Big Picture: Resilience of the Law of the Sea in a Tumultuous World
Moderator: TBD

Fiammetta Borgia ‘Beyond Systemic Integration: The Law of the Sea as a Networked Legal Order’

Jan Solski ‘From Exception to Template? The Northern Sea Route, Rent‑Seeking, and the Erosion of the Maritime Commons’

Trym Eiterjord and Romain Chuffart ‘Marine Scientific Research in the "new cold war"’

Juan Francisco Escudero Espinosa ‘State Competences Beyond National Jurisdiction and the Transformation of Ocean Governance’

Rafael Prado ‘From Freedom to Responsibility: The Emergence of Common Concern of Humankind as a Constitutional Principle of Global Ocean Governance’

Discussion (45 mins)  

 

15:15-15:30 Coffee  

15:30-17:00 High level panel

Panelists: Nicholas Rajkovic, Karen Scott and TBD++

Moderator: TBD