PROPERTY RIGHTS AND NATURAL
RESOURCES
The use of private property rights to regulate natural resources is a controversial topic because it touches upon two critical issues: the allocation of wealth in society and the conservation and management of limited resources. This book explores the extension of private property rights and market mechanisms to natural resources in international areas from a legal perspective. It uses marine fisheries to illustrate the issues that can arise in the design of regulatory regimes for natural resources.
If property rights are used to regulate natural resources then it is essential that we understand how the law and values embedded within legal systems shape the development and operation of property rights in practice. The author constructs a version of property that articulates both the private and public function of property. This restores some much needed balance to property discourse. He also assesses the impact of international law on the use of property rights—a much neglected topic—and shows how different legal and socio-political values that inhere in different legal regimes fundamentally shape the construction of property rights. Despite the many claimed benefits to be had from the use of private property rights-based management systems, the author warns against an uncritical acceptance of this approach and, in particular, questions whether private property rights are the most suitable and effective arrangement of regulating of natural resources. He suggests that much more complex forms of holding, such as stewardship, may be required to meet physical, legal and moral imperatives associated with natural resources.
Studies in International Law: Volume 22
Studies in International Law
Volume 1: Between Light and Shadow: The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and International Human Rights Law
Mac Darrow
Volume 2: Toxics and Transnational Law: International and European Regulation of Toxic Substances as Legal Symbolism
Marc Pallemaerts
Volume 3: The Chapter VII Powers of the United Nations Security Council
Erika de Wet
Volume 4: Enforcing International Law Norms Against Terrorism
Edited by Andrea Bianchi
Volume 5: The Permanent International Criminal Court
Edited by Dominic McGoldrick, Peter Rowe and Eric Donnelly.
Volume 6: Regional Organisations and the Development of Collective Security
Ademola Abass
Volume 7: Islamic State Practices, International Law and the Threat from Terrorism: A Critique of the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ in the New World Order
Javaid Rehman
Volume 8: Predictablity and Flexibility in the Law of Maritime Delimitation
Yoshifumi Tanaka
Volume 9: Biotechnology and International Law
Edited by Francesco Francioni and Tullio Scovazzi
Volume 10: The Development of Human Rights Law by the Judges of the International Court of Justice
Shiv Bedi
Volume 11: The Environmental Accountability of the World Bank to Third Party Non-State Actors
Alix Gowlland-Gualtieri
Volume 12: Transnational Corporations and Human Rights
Edited by Olivier De Schutter
Volume 13: Biotechnologies and International Human Rights
Edited by Francesco Francioni
Volume 14: Human Security and International Law: Prospects and Problems
Barbara Von Tigerstrom
Volume 15: The Arms Trade and International Law
Zeray Yihdego
Volume 16: Africa: Mapping New Boundaries in International Law
Edited by Jeremy Levitt
Volume 17: Forced Migration, Human Rights and Security
Edited by Jane McAdam
Volume 18: The Use of Nuclear Weapons and the Protection of the Environment during International Armed Conflict
Erik Koppe
Volume 19: The Shifting Allocation of Authority in International Law: Considering Sovereignty, Supremacy and Subsidiarity
Edited by Tomer Broude and Yuval Shany
Volume 20: Counterterrorism: Democracy’s Challenge
Edited by Andrea Bianchi and Alexis Keller
Volume 21: Amnesty, Human Rights and Political Transitions
Louise Mallinder
Volume 22: Property Rights and Natural Resources
Richard Barnes
Property Rights and
Natural Resources
Richard Barnes
OXFORD AND PORTLAND, OREGON 2009
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© Richard Barnes 2009
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Acknowledgements
In writing this book I have been lucky enough to benefit from the accumulated wisdom of a number of teachers, mentors, colleagues and friends. Acknowledgement by way of these few words is a small measure of repayment for what is a considerable debt of gratitude. Iain Scobbie started me off down this path, although I am quite sure that even he did not realise where it was leading. My colleagues at the Law School of the University of Hull have provided the research environment which makes projects like this both possible and worthwhile. Particular thanks go to Scott Davidson, Surya Subedi and Lindsay Moir. They provided me with great encouragement and supervision during the doctoral thesis from which this book has grown. Robin Churchill’s scholarship has long inspired my interest in the law of the sea. His knowledge, his balanced perspective and his attention to detail are qualities to which I aspire. David Ong provided me with some much needed advice and clarity about the direction of my research. Lisa Whitehouse helped me to straighten out some of my views on the concept of property. Particular thanks go to Mike Feintuck for his warnings and advice upon the ‘public interest’. David Freestone has been a constant source of inspiration and guidance. He merits particular thanks, not least because he ventured to read the draft manuscript. Daniel Metcalf provided some much appreciated and necessary research assistance. A special word of thanks is due to Richard Hart, who is perhaps the most patient and sympathetic of editors.
Above all, there has been the long and unwavering support of my wife, Jo. Without your support and belief in me this book would not have happened. It is to you, and to Cam and Dan, that this book is dedicated.
RAB
Hull, Nov 2008
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Contents |
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Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. |
vii |
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Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... |
xiii |
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Table of Domestic Cases...................................................................................... |
xv |
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Table of International Cases............................................................................ |
xxiii |
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Table of Domestic and Regional Instruments ............................................... |
xxvii |
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Table of Treaties and Other Instruments......................................................... |
xxxi |
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Chapter 1: Natural Resources, International Law and Property ............. |
1 |
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1. |
Some Problems Concerning the Regulation of Natural Resources ........... |
1 |
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2. |
Property and Sovereignty: Some Modes of Analysis............................ |
10 |
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3. |
Scope and Orientation of this Study........................................................ |
17 |
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Chapter 2: The Private Function of Property ............................................ |
21 |
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1. |
Introduction ................................................................................................. |
21 |
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2. |
Property and Excludability ....................................................................... |
22 |
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3. |
Justifications of Property ........................................................................... |
29 |
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(a) Property as a Natural Right ............................................................... |
30 |
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(b) |
Property as Liberty .............................................................................. |
37 |
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(c) |
Property as Utility................................................................................ |
39 |
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(d) |
Economic Approaches to Property Rights ....................................... |
41 |
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(e) |
Property as Propriety .......................................................................... |
49 |
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(f) |
Property and Pluralism....................................................................... |
55 |
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4. |
Concluding Remarks.................................................................................. |
61 |
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Chapter 3: The Public Function of Property Rights ................................ |
63 |
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1. |
Introduction ................................................................................................. |
63 |
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2. |
A Template for the Public Function of Property: |
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The Public Interest ...................................................................................... |
68 |
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(a) The Nature and Identity of the Community ................................... |
70 |
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(i) Plenary Legal Communities ....................................................... |
71 |
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(ii) Types of Plenary Legal Community.......................................... |
72 |
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(iii) State and International Legal Community Contrasted .......... |
73 |
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(iv) Conclusions on Plenary Legal Communities |
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and their Public Interests ............................................................ |
83 |
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(b) The Categories of Public Interests ..................................................... |
84 |
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(i) |
Operative Public Interests........................................................... |
84 |
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(ii) |
Normative Public Interests ......................................................... |
87 |
x |
Contents |
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(iii) First Order Public Interests......................................................... |
90 |
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(iv) Second Order Public Interests .................................................... |
93 |
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(v) Third Order Public Interests ..................................................... |
104 |
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(vi) The Relationship Between Orders of Public Interest............ |
109 |
3. |
Public Interests and the Public Function of Property ......................... |
112 |
Chapter 4: Reconciling the Private and Public |
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Functions of Property................................................................................... |
119 |
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1. |
Introduction ............................................................................................... |
119 |
2. |
The Interface Between Private and Public Functions of Property ....... |
120 |
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(a) The Coincidence of Private Rights and Public Interests.............. |
121 |
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(b) Rights as Trumps................................................................................ |
122 |
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(c) Public Interests as Trumps................................................................ |
126 |
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(d) A Determinable Relationship between Rights and Interests....... |
128 |
3. |
Delimiting Justifications .......................................................................... |
132 |
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(a) Physical Factors that Shape the Relationship between |
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the Private and Public Functions of Property................................ |
133 |
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(b) Legal Factors that Shape the Relationship between |
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the Private and Public Functions of Property................................ |
137 |
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(c) Moral Factors that Shape the Relationship between |
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the Private and Public Functions of Property................................ |
150 |
4. |
Forms of Property ..................................................................................... |
152 |
5. |
Stewardship ............................................................................................... |
155 |
6. |
Conclusions................................................................................................ |
162 |
Chapter 5: The Influence of Property Concepts in the Development |
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of Sovereign Rights over Ocean Space and Resources ......................... |
165 |
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1. |
Introduction ............................................................................................... |
165 |
2. |
The Grotian Period: The Mare Clausum–Mare Liberum Debate .......... |
166 |
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(a) Background ......................................................................................... |
166 |
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(b) Doctrinal and Theoretical Considerations ..................................... |
168 |
3. |
Freedom of the Seas.................................................................................. |
177 |
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(a) Background ......................................................................................... |
177 |
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(b) Doctrinal and Theoretical Considerations ..................................... |
179 |
4. |
Consolidating Coastal State Control: Territorial Seas ......................... |
183 |
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(a) Background ......................................................................................... |
184 |
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(b) Doctrinal and Theoretical Considerations ..................................... |
190 |
5. |
The Emergence of Resource Regimes .................................................... |
198 |
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(a) Continental Shelf................................................................................ |
198 |
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(b) Exclusive Economic Zone ................................................................. |
202 |
6. |
Concluding Remarks................................................................................ |
216 |
Chapter 6: Sovereignty and Property: General Considerations .......... |
221 |
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1. |
Introduction ............................................................................................... |
221 |
2. |
Territorial Sovereignty as Property ........................................................ |
222 |
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Contents |
xi |
3. |
The Scope of Sovereignty (or Its Private Incidents) ............................ |
228 |
4. |
Restrictions on the Exercise of Sovereignty .......................................... |
231 |
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(a) General Limits on the Use of Natural Resources .......................... |
232 |
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(b) Limits on the Use of Natural Resources Under |
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International Environmental Law ................................................... |
234 |
5. |
Sovereignty Bounded ............................................................................... |
248 |
Chapter 7: Sovereignty, Property and Maritime Zones......................... |
251 |
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1. |
Introduction ............................................................................................... |
251 |
2. |
Maritime Zones and the Scope for Property Rights............................ |
255 |
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(a) Territorial Sea...................................................................................... |
259 |
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(b) Archipelagic Waters ........................................................................... |
265 |
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(c) Continental Shelf................................................................................ |
270 |
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(d) Exclusive Economic Zone ................................................................. |
282 |
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(e) Maritime Delimitation....................................................................... |
306 |
3. |
Concluding Remarks................................................................................ |
311 |
Chapter 8: Property Rights and Fisheries ................................................ |
313 |
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1. |
Introduction ............................................................................................... |
313 |
2. |
Forms of Property in Rights-Based Fisheries Management Systems ..... |
317 |
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(a) Input Controls .................................................................................... |
317 |
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(b) Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries ................................................... |
319 |
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(c) Individual Quotas .............................................................................. |
323 |
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(d) Community Development Quotas .................................................. |
328 |
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(e) Stock Use Rights in Fisheries ........................................................... |
330 |
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(f) Summary ............................................................................................. |
332 |
3. |
Domestic Implementation of Property Rights-Based |
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Management Systems............................................................................... |
332 |
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(a) Australia .............................................................................................. |
333 |
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(b) Canada ................................................................................................. |
345 |
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(c) Iceland.................................................................................................. |
351 |
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(d) New Zealand....................................................................................... |
357 |
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(e) United States ....................................................................................... |
365 |
4. |
An Appraisal of Rights-Based Measures............................................... |
378 |
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(a) Economic Consequences of Rights-based Measures .................... |
378 |
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(b) Conservation and Management Consequences of |
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Rights-based Measures...................................................................... |
381 |
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(c) Allocational Consequences of Rights-based Measures ................ |
385 |
5. |
Legal Aspects of Rights-Based Fisheries ............................................... |
387 |
Chapter 9: Conclusion.................................................................................. |
395 |
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Select Bibliography ........................................................................................... |
403 |
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Index ................................................................................................................. |
415 |
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