All Posts by Flavia

David Freestone

Executive Secretary
Sargasso Sea Commission

Professor David Freestone is a Professorial Lecturer and Visiting Scholar at George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. He is the Executive Secretary of the Sargasso Sea Commission, established by the Government of Bermuda pursuant to the 2014 Hamilton Declaration on Collaboration for the Conservation of the Sargasso Sea, now signed by ten governments, that is working to protect this unique high seas ecosystem. The project was awarded the International SeaKeepers Prize in 2013. He is also founding Editor of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law (now in its 37th year). From 1996-2008 he worked at the World Bank in Washington DC, retiring as Deputy General Counsel/Senior Adviser. From 2008-2010 he was the Lobingier Visiting Professor of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence at the George Washington University Law School. He was the Ingram Fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney in 2009 and has held visiting positions at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (2014-18), University of Cape town (2016) and the Oxford University Martin School (2018). In 2008 he was awarded the Elizabeth Haub Gold Medal for Environmental Law.

Seokwoo Lee

Professor of International Law
Inha University Law School, Korea

Seokwoo LEE is Professor of International Law, Inha University Law School, Korea (2003-). He was Chairman of the Foundation for the Development of International Law in Asia (DILA) (2012-2017) and is Co-Chair of International Law Association (ILA) Study Group, Asian State Practice of Domestic Implementation of International Law (ASP-DIIL) (2018- ). He was Vice President of the Korean Society of International Law (2019) (Executive Board Member (2010- ), Director of International Relations (2010-2011)) and served as Chairman of Research Committee, SLOC (Sea Lanes of Communication) Study Group-Korea (2010-2013).

He is General Editor of Encyclopedia of Public International Law in Asia (EPILA) and Encyclopedia of Ocean Law and Policy in Asia-Pacific (EOLPA), Co-Editor-in-Chief of Asia-Pacific Journal of Ocean Law and Policy (APJOLP) and Asian Yearbook of International Law (Asian YBIL), Executive Editor of Korean Journal of International and Comparative Law (KJICL), Co-Series Editor of the book series entitled Maritime Cooperation in East Asia, and Associate Editor of Brill Research Perspectives in the Law of the Sea, all published by Brill.

He has authored more than 100 publications in English in addition to his more than 100 publications in Korean. His representative publications in English are: “Yeo Woon Taek v. New Nippon Steel Corporation”, American Journal of International Law (Vol.113, No.3) (2019) and The Making of International Law in Korea: From Colony to Asian Power (Brill/Nijhoff) (2016).

He is a graduate of Korea University where he received his undergraduate law degree and then went on to receive Master of Laws degrees from Korea University, the University of Minnesota, and New York University, and finally his doctorate from Oxford University. In addition, he has completed the required coursework for his doctoral degree program in Modern and Contemporary Korean History at the Department of Korean History, Korea University.

David Santillo

Senior Scientist
Greenpeace International

Dr David Santillo is a marine biologist and analytical chemist who works as a scientist at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories, based at the University of Exeter in the UK. In addition to his research on environmental pollution, David has represented Greenpeace International at meetings of the Scientific Groups and Governing Bodies of the London Convention and London Protocol since the mid-1990s, contributing to the development of guidance and regulations (including those relating to marine geoengineering activities) and bringing other emerging issues of concern to the attention of those meetings.  He has also played an active role in meetings under the OSPAR Convention over the same period, including work within committees addressing the offshore oil and gas industry, hazardous substances and the protection of biodiversity from human activities.  David has co-authored papers and technical reports on a wide range of environmental issues, including a number of recent collaborative studies on plastic pollution in marine and freshwater systems, and in a personal capacity was a contributory author to GESAMP Report No. 108 on sea-based sources of marine litter, published in 2021.  He recently contributed to a perspectives paper in the journal of the Institute of Environmental Sciences reflecting on the role that NGOs have played in the development of the environmental agenda in the 50 years since the Stockholm Conference. 

Ríán Derrig

Postdoctoral Fellow
WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute

Dr. Ríán Derrig is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute of the World Maritime University. His current research focuses on the history and theory of international law, and topics at the intersection of the law of territory and the law of the sea.

Before joining the WMU, Ríán was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Global Constitutionalism of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. His research at the WZB focused on the influence of changing paradigms of psychological theory on twentieth century international law. Ríán defended his doctoral thesis, ‘Educating American Modernists: The Origins of the New Haven School’, at the European University Institute in September 2019. He was awarded the 2018 Young Scholar Prize of the European Society of International Law and the 2020 Antonio Cassese Prize for his work on the New Haven School. Ríán is currently writing a book, International Law and the Democratic Character: An Intellectual History of the New Haven School, which will be published by Oxford University Press.

In 2016, Ríán was a Visiting Researcher at Yale Law School. He has taught feminist legal theory at Trinity College Dublin and the European University Institute.

Ríán’s recent publications include: ‘Educating American Lawyers: The New Haven School’s Jurisprudence of Personal Character’, 31(3) European Journal of International Law (2020); and ‘Was Rockall Conquered? An Application of the Law of Territory to a Rockin the North Atlantic Ocean’, Vol. 14 Irish Yearbook of International Law(2019) [published July 2021].

Craig Vogt

President
Craig Vogt Inc; Western Dredging Association (WEDA) Board of Directors

Craig Vogt was Deputy Director of the USEPA’s Ocean and Coastal Protection Division in Washington, DC, USA, for 18 years, responsible for national regulatory programs controlling the disposal of wastes in marine waters. Mr. Vogt was also responsible for coastal ecosystem restoration planning and remediation in the 28 National Estuary Programs across the USA.

Mr. Vogt led the U.S. delegation to meetings of the London Convention & Protocol from 1991 to 2003. He Chaired the Scientific Group of the LC/LP from 2004-2007, during which time updates to the LC/LP Waste Assessment Guidelines were put in place, regional workshops were conducted on  marine pollution prevention, and new guidance was developed and adopted on sequestration of carbon in deep seabeds.

Mr. Vogt is now an environmental engineer with Craig Vogt Inc., Ocean & Coastal Environmental Consulting. Projects include dredged material management, marine disposal of mine tailings, deep sea mining, management of contaminated sediments, economic/environmental effects of eroding shorelines, and coastal habitat restoration. 

For the Secretariat of the LC/LP, Mr. Vogt prepared reports on marine disposal of mine tailings, low cost/low technology field and compliance monitoring, site selection for waste disposal in ocean waters, control/prevention of microplastics in waste disposed at sea, and the GESAMP Workshop Proceedings on the impacts of mine tailings in the marine environment.

He represents the World Organization of Dredging Associations (WODA) at meetings of the LC/LP and is Chair of WODA’s Environmental Commission. Craig is a member of the Western (i.e., hemisphere) Dredging Association’s (WEDA) Board of Directors and Chairs WEDA’s Environmental Commission. 

In 2008, Craig received the highest civilian award from USEPA, the Distinguished Career Award, and in 2019 received WEDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mr. Vogt has a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering, both from Oregon State University.

H.E. Geneviéve Jean-Van Rossum

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the International Maritime Organization

A career diplomat, Geneviève Jean-van Rossum has been appointed as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the International Maritime Organization in 2019. 

Before that, she held bilateral positions in the Embassies of France in Haiti (1984-1986), Jordan (1996-1999) and Burundi (2013-2016), in Paris (Southern Africa desk, US desk), as well as multilateral positions abroad (Permanent Representation of France to the UN in Vienna 2004-2008) and in Paris (Permanent Delegation of France to the UNESCO 1990-1992). She has also held senior positions in relation with finance and human ressources at the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in particular as Deputy Director of Programmes and Network at the Directorate General for Globalisation (2010 to 2013).   

In the most recent period, she was Special Representative in charge of Bioethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (2016 to 2019).  

She holds a bachelor degree in Foreign Languages from the University of Clermont-Ferrand and a master’s degree in International relations from the Paris Institut d’Etudes Politiques.

She was made “chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite » et de « la Légion d’honneur».

Ms Jean-van Rossum is married and has four children.

Enrique Vargas Guerra

Head of the IMO Audit Division at Directemar Chile
Chair for Scientific Groups Meetings of the Scientific Groups on London Convention and Protocol 2022-2023

Commander Enrique Vargas is a graduated naval officer from the Chilean Naval Academy. He has a bachelor’s degree as a Maritime Administration Engineer and multiple studies related to environmental protection and climate change, including a Master’s Degree in Maritime Affairs with a specialization in Maritime Safety and Environmental Protection, from the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden (2006)

Between 2012 -2021 served as Head of the Marine Environment Protection and Marine Pollution Service of the Chilean Maritime Authority (DIRECTEMAR) and since 2017 as Head of the Climate Change Office of the Chilean Navy.

In these positions he was responsible for implementing the environmental policy and international regulations in the roles of the Maritime Authority, leading working groups for the development of technical guidelines in matters related with environmental impact assessment and compliance of activities that take place in the marine environment.

During the last 10 years, he has represented Chile at multilateral forums on environmental protection, including the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the APEC Forum. He has also managed technical cooperation programs in the Latin American Region and the Community of Caribbean countries (CARICOM), as well as projects of the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation forum (APEC).

Since 2012 he has been linked to the issues associated with the London Convention and Protocol, participating as head of delegation in the meetings of the Scientific Groups and as well as Contracting Parties.

In 2015 he was elected as the vice-chair of the Scientific Groups for the “London Convention and Protocol (LC / LP)”, assuming as Chair of the meetings in 2020.

Currently he is the head of the IMO Audit Division at Directemar, responsible for arrangements to the IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) in Chile.

Måns Jacobsson

Professor
Former Director and CEO, International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds)

Måns Jacobsson was Director and Chief Executive Officer of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds) 1985-2006. In his earlier career he served in the Swedish judiciary at district court and appellate court level, and he has held the post of President of Division of the Stockholm Court of Appeal. He has also been Head of the Department of International Civil Law of the Swedish Ministry of Justice.

He has been a member of the Board of Governors of the World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmö (Sweden) since 2010. After his retirement from the IOPC Funds he works as a consultant in maritime and environmental matters and as an academic lecturer at numerous institutions in a number of countries, inter alia as Visiting Professor at the WMU and at the Maritime Universities in Dalian and Shanghai and as Visiting Fellow at the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta. He is also a corresponding member of the Argentine Academia nacional de derecho y ciencias sociales. He is Academic Associate of Quadrant Chambers, a set of leading barristers in London specializing in commercial law. He has published three books and numerous articles in various fields of law.

The University of Southampton has conferred upon him the Degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa. In 2010 he was awarded the King of Sweden’s Gold Medal for significant achievements in the fields of marine environment and shipping.

Maria Carolina Romero Lares

Associate Professor
World Maritime University

Dr. Romero received a Law degree from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1995. She initiated her career as a lawyer working for the firm Rodríguez & Mendoza, Abogados and later at the Legal Department of Banco de Venezuela (Bank of Venezuela) in Caracas. She obtained a LL.M. degree from Tulane University, New Orleans, in the U.S. and she continued her education in Germany, where she finished her Ph.D. at Hannover Universität with honors (cum laude).

From 2005 to 2009 she worked at the International Affairs Office of the Venezuelan Maritime Administration (INEA) in Caracas, where she reached the position of Head of the International Office and represented her country in several international meetings at IMO and the IOPC Funds in London. During those years she was elected as President (ad-honorem) of the Advisory Committee on the Law of the Sea and Maritime Law by the Secretary of Transportation’s Office of Venezuela; in order to produce maritime legislation proposals to be presented to the Secretary and subsequently to the Venezuelan Parliament.

She started her academic career in 2005 as a part-time Professor at the Universidad Nacional Experimental Marítima del Caribe (Venezuelan Maritime University), where she taught several courses dealing with Law of the Sea and IMO Conventions, supervised master dissertations and acted as referee for several publications. She was also invited to lecture at the Venezuelan Diplomatic Academy.

Dr. Romero joined WMU in 2010 and currently teaches the following courses: Maritime Law & International Maritime Conventions, Law of the Sea and Maritime Security, Law and Policy related to the Marine Environment and Principles of Maritime Administration and Management. She is also in charge of organizing the annual Moot Court Competition for the Master of Science Law & Policy Specialization focusing on current issues of public international law.

Dr. Romero has been very active in the delivery of Professional Development Courses on the Law of the Sea with special focus on Maritime Boundary Delimitations. She has also participated as a speaker in several conferences regarding the protection of the marine environment and the advancement and empowerment of women.

Her main areas of research are Law of the Sea, pollution liabilities, ocean governance, and the IOPC Funds.

Vasco Becker-Weinberg

Professor
Faculty of Law of the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa

Professor Vasco Becker-Weinberg is a professor at the Faculty of Law of the Universidade Lusófona, teaching Constitutional Law, Public International Law and EU Law. He is also the founder and former coordinator of the Masters on Law and Economics of the Sea at NOVA School of Law, where he lectures on the Law of the Sea and EU Law of the Sea. He has researched at prominent academic institutions and written and published extensively on the Law of the Sea. He is the founder and president of IPDM–The Portuguese Institute of the Law of the Sea (www.ipdm.pt) and the Editor-in-Chief of the recently launched Portuguese Yearbook of the Law of the Sea. He has been on several delegations to international fora and often advises on public international law and the law of the sea matters. More recently he has been part of the national Portuguese delegation to the intergovernmental conference on an international legally binding instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. He has also been involved in the drafting of policies and legislation on many ocean governance subjects. He is currently Law Clerk at the Portuguese Constitutional Court and was previously Legal Advisor to the Portuguese Secretary of the Sea and a full-time scholar at the International Max Planck Research School for Maritime Affairs at the University of Hamburg.