Papers presented at the meetings facilitated by the Sanders Institute at the Faculty of Law of the Erasmus University Rotterdam and the Law School of the University of Hull.

The controversial question of whether or not at present the precautionary principle is to be considered a norm of customary international law is the key theme of this work, which treats the issue as part of a broader discussion of the principle's legal status on the international plane. This discussion, In turn, Is put in perspective by an account of the short but remarkable history of the principle in international environmental law and policy. The greater part of this study consists of the mapping and analysis of state practice in respect of the precautionary principle. Pertinent treaties, declarations, decisions of international organizations and domestic instruments pass in review. The book then applies the generally accepted principles governing the formation of customary international law to this body of state practice. This manuscript was awarded the François Prize 2001 by the Netherlands Society of International Law / Netherlands Branch of the ILA. `[The precautionary principle] has been cited in an increasing number of legal proceedings, including those in the International Court of Justice, The International Tribunal For The Law of the Sea And The WTO Appellate Body, As well as in the courts of a large number of states, including the supreme courts of India and Canada.' (from the Preface by the Series Editors)

The content and status of the precautionary principle remains highly debated and various questions arise, such as its status as a rule of customary international law, including its scope, addressee, triggering threshold, precautionary action measures, and eventually limits of the principle. Thus, this book examines the present state of affairs regarding the implementation of the principle in the law of the sea in different sectors, e.g. pollution of the marine environment, conservation and management of living marine resources, and transboundary transports of radioactive and hazardous wastes. In addition, it extracts evidence of its acceptance as part of customary international law, and indicates that below this level there is also an emerging practice of international law of applying the precautionary principle in a common way.

In The International Seabed Authority and the Precautionary Principle, Aline L. Jaeckel offers an insightful analysis of the work of the International Seabed Authority and examines whether the Authority is implementing the precautionary principle in regulating and managing deep seabed minerals.

This text explores the state of affairs in 2003 regarding the implementation of the principle in the law of the sea in different areas: like, pollution of the marine environment, conservation and management of living marine resources and transboundary transports of radioactive and hazardous wastes.

The book provides a systematic and comprehensive study of the prevention principle in international environmental law.

This work makes clear what it means that the precautionary principle represents customary international law. Through the analysis of state practice regarding this principle of international environmental law, it answers crucial questions concerning the conditions triggering a right or duty to take precautionary action; the nature and content of such action; the issue areas to which the principle applies; the allocation of the burden of proof; and the role of socio-economic factors. Ultimately, it details what it takes to act in conformity with the precautionary principle under general international law.