Study On The Legal Issues Of "Activities Incidentally Affecting Underwater Cultural Heritage"

Cultural heritage is the precious resource for the human beings. Its nonrenewable nature further enhances the importance of the protection of it. However, the protection of cultural heritage, especially that of underwater cultural heritage (UCH), is far from satisfactory in many countries and even in the whole international community. That is partly because that land cultural heritage lies in the territory under a state's sovereignty, while the UCH may lie on the seabed of different maritime zones, which gives rise to more complex conflicting interests.After years of negotiation, the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) adopted the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001 Convention) in November 2001. As the first international instrument on the protection of UCH, it mainly focuses on"activities directed on UCH", with only two provisions dealing with"activities incidentally affecting on UCH". Admittedly, this might be the need of balancing political, economic and military interests among different countries, however, the drafters'little concern on this particular issue may also lead to such a result.In order to prevent or mitigate the negative effect of activities incidentally affecting on UCH, we need to strengthen and even extend the coastal state's jurisdiction as well as the flag state's duty of administration. Any attempt to resolve problems of the sea should be made within the framework of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 Convention). It is a pity that the 2001 Convention fails to take account of the potential effect of the 1982 Convention. Based on the analysis to different jurisdiction systems in different maritime areas established under the 1982 Convention, this dissertation suggests a new way to divide the jurisdiction among the relating costal states. Also, this dissertation introduces some practice and experience of the worldwide so as to provide some specific administration principles and measures that might be adopted in China. In general, China's legislation on the protection of the UCH is advanced, but it is still far from sufficient with regard to"activities incidentally affecting UCH". After analyzing China's legislations and practices in the relative field, the dissertation at its very end specifically puts forward suggestions to help improve the existing legislation in China.