Regionalisation or Regionalism? The Contemporary Legal Status of Cooperation in the South Pacific

This article aims to analyse the legal status of regional cooperation among the South Pacific countries and territories, as not every entity in the Pacific Basin possesses International law features of a state. Regionalisation, as well as regionalism, as illustrated by the example of the South Pacific region, is a new topic to examine, especially in the Polish and European literature. Therefore, this topic does need further and deeper analysis. First of all, both regionalism and regionalisation are international phenomena that were set against the process of globalisation only in the last two decades of the 20th century. Secondly, the Pacific Ocean became more dominant in geopolitics than the Atlantic Community at the beginning of 21st century. There are many publications regarding local cooperation mechanisms worldwide. Most of them, though, concern political and/or economic integration, and neglect the legal aspects of regional integration. The outcome of this article is nonetheless to present the contemporary legal statusof the South Pacific cooperation, though it is at the stage of regionalisation, while not yet regionalism – fully formalised and structuralised just as it is on the other continents

New Zealand – China FTA: Trade Growth amid Social Changes

Many legal and business mechanisms were introduced by the government in Wellington in order to enable trade practices of the Chinese partners. Asian immigrants to New Zealand do fill the real gap in the small labour market of Aotearoa by providing highly qualified and hard-working workers. As a consequence, almost every area of New Zealand’s social and economic life is subject to changes. This phenomenon of such new and unexpected demographic situation has been portrayed by coining a new name for the country a few years ago – Niu Chiland. In fact, the only ethnic group in New Zealand that increases every year is the Chinese. Although, according to official data, there are only 5% of Chinese in the society of almost 5 million people, the real data is much larger. In Auckland, the country’s largest city and its business capital, having population of over 1.5 million, every fourth resident is of Chinese origin. The Free Trade Agreement turned out to be a breakthrough, as Wellington was the first capital among developed Western countries that decided to legally bind itself with the People’s Republic of China in 2008. In 2021, China and New Zealand signed the Protocol to amend the New Zealand-China agreement and to add some previously not taken into consideration spheres, such as e-commerce and environment. While New Zealand economy clearly shows benefits of trade with China, and anyhow sees any potential negative effects, like political dependence from this communist state not respecting human rights, between the politicians in Canberra and Beijing there continue to escalate tensions. Australia, contrary to New Zealand, is trying to contain Chinese imperialist’s appetite and stop Beijing before launching own sphere of interest in the Pacific region.publishedVersio

European Union Policy towards the Pacific Island States

The article concerns the idea as well as the form of international cooperation between states and international organizations, illustrated by the example of the relationship between the European Union and the Pacific region. There is some useful literature on the subject but this needs be to completed. The influences of the world’s leaders collide on the Pacific Ocean, which gives this area primacy in geopolitical domination, slowly downgrading the Atlantic Community. The main purpose of the paper is, therefore, to research the possibilities and methods of legal and extrajudicial cooperation between two continents which are very distant from each other. This work underlines the difference between official policy, presented by the regional intergovernmental organizations, and the individual policies of member states, who are not tied down by Brussels politics and may maintain their own foreign relations.The article concerns the idea as well as the form of international cooperation between states and international organizations, illustrated by the example of the relationship between the European Union and the Pacific region. There is some useful literature on the subject but this needs be to completed. The influences of the world’s leaders collide on the Pacific Ocean, which gives this area primacy in geopolitical domination, slowly downgrading the Atlantic Community. The main purpose of the paper is, therefore, to research the possibilities and methods of legal and extrajudicial cooperation betweentwo continents which are very distant from each other. This work underlines the difference between official policy, presented by the regional intergovernmental organizations, and the individual policies of member states, who are not tied down by Brussels politics and may maintain their own foreign relations

Book Review: The Law of the Sea, by Robin Churchill, Vaughan Lowe, and Amy Sander

publishedVersio

Pacific Islands Development Forum – emergence of the new participant in the Pacific regionalism

Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) was formally established through signing of an agreement in 2015. The two previous gatherings were informal and did not bring any legally binding documents. The 3rd summit, entitled “Building Climate Resilient Green Blue Pacific Economies” introduced not only the constituting agreement, being an international treaty, what in turn made PIDF an intergovernmental organization having its own legal personality, but also created the pivot for the new wave of the Pacific regionalism. The regional cooperation among the small island states is being made ineffectively and economically inefficiently due to many reasons. The most relevant of which are the over fragmentation of the existing regional organisations and constant creation of ad hoc institutions which have no personality, powers or sanctions for non-fulfilment of the jointly adapted agreements.publishedVersio

Regional integration in the South Pacific: challenges for public governance

Abstract: Purpose of this article is to present and analyse regional integration in the South Pacific region, as well as to enumerate the potential challenges for public governance. The article is divided therefore into 5 sections, starting from introduction, where the author presents the idea of the research, gives definitions; second part deals with the South Pacific integration as an example of regionalisation, where it is necessary to present the characteristic features of the region, as well as its complex regional model of cooperation; third part enumerates obstacles for public governance gathered into categories of legal and extrajudicial challenges; forth part brings about some reason, why the Pacific microstates can be called as weak democracies; finally, fifth part forms the conclusion where the author summaries the whole research. The used methodology is the legal analysis, where the legal acts, as well as political declarations have been taken into account. Overall, regional integration in the South Pacific is weak because of a multitude of challenges for public governance. On the other hand, though, those challenges might become a motivation for the small island states to improve the level of regional governance

International legal framework regulating military exercises – Lawfare potentially associated with military exercises as a hybrid threat

This article analyses international law norms and diplomatic mechanisms concerning military exercises. As such a topic is relatively new, with the international legal system being breached by authoritarian regimes using lawfare, the legal aspects of military exercises have not yet been researched and thus require more focus, especially from the standpoint of hybrid threats. International law itself is leaky and lacks enforcement measures, since sanctions are not an element of the international legal arrangement. It lacks a centralised enforcement mechanism, the principles and rules governing responsibility for wrongful acts require the wrongdoer’s cooperation, and the mechanisms and procedures to deal with the consequences of such wrongful acts, including restitution and compensation, are not universally recognised. Most countries in the global arena follow the paradigm of the United Nations, where states must maintain their relations in a peaceful manner in order to achieve security and stability. However, some undemocratic states, mainly the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, have been presenting hostile postures towards the Western world’s values, where human life tops the hierarchy of protected values. Traditionally, military exercises have been used as a messaging tool between strategic competitors and potential adversaries to signal their own military strength. Russia and China are fully aware of the lack of hard law concerning the subject of military exercises; they readily seize the resulting opportunities to create and exploit legal grey zones, as well as to frequently breach international law, while knowing that little can be done against their malevolent conduct.publishedVersio

Polish - New Zealand economic ties: legal perspective on the current state of trade

The purpose of this article is an attempt to explain the contemporary Polish-New Zealand economic relations, as well as potential development of the further cooperation. The relatively new diplomatic relations between Warsaw and Wellington are not enough studied and therefore they require more research. Legal framework is an obvious factor, which can be seen both in the methods of soft and hard law. Understanding history and characteristic marks of this relation would allow developing economic cooperation but also establishing it in the branches of national economy where such collaboration does not exist yet. Both countries perceive one another as an important, trust-based representative of appropriately the Central-East Europe and the South Pacific. Cooperating with each other, Poland and New Zealand might not only increase their bilateral trade exchange, but also become a key economic associate within the partner region.publishedVersio

Australia in the Time of Crisis: Multidisciplinary Determinants

The paper reports the conference on Australia, organized by the Polish research association based in Cracow (Australia, New Zealand and Oceania Research Association, ANZORA). The 2020 edition was already the 12th conference entitled Australia in the Time of Crisis: Climactic, Cultural, Economic, and Political Solutions. This year, the co-organizing unit was the University of Łódź, as every year, ANZORA promotes Pacific Studies at different Polish universities. The hosting faculty was the Faculty of International and Political Studies, with its Chair of British Studies and the Commonwealth Countries, as well as the “Australian Studies” Scientific Association. The panelists came from numerous disciplines and eight academic institutions from Poland and three from abroad. In total, there were 21 presenters: young scholars, experienced academics, independent researchers as well as enthusiasts of the Australian continent. Besides the University of Bergen in Norway, foreign speakers represented the Université de Bourgogne in France and the Australian Embassy in Poland. Three diplomatic missions have taken the honorary patronage over the event. Those were the Australian Embassy, the Embassy of New Zealand, and the Polish Embassy in Australia. The supporting institutions were the University of Bergen, the Polish Geopolitical Society, and the Academy of European Careers Foundation.publishedVersio

Implementation of legal mechanisms of environmental protection by the South Pacific regional organizations

Objective of the article is to present a multitude of the South Pacific regional organizations, whose one of the most vital issue is to implement legal mechanisms of environmental protection. As the Pacific countries and territories are the most affected by the climate change effects, the goal of the politicians, diplomats, representatives of private sector and civil society organizations is to protect their islands. The islanders have been trying to achieve that through multilateral gathering, seminars and other so-called soft law instruments, but also, recently, through hard law mechanism, which can be de iure executed. There are however many obstacles which come from both structural and social barriers of the South Pacific nations. The methodology, which has been used to write this article, is the legal analysis of the documents made on both national and transnational lever, mainly by the regional intergovernmental organizations, as well as non-binding communiqués after summits and further political declarations. The value author wishes to bring is first of all publicising the Pacific region, as it is not anymore isolated or dependent on the bigger global actors. Secondly, environmental protection made by the grass roots initiatives, being de facto the regional organizations, can shed new light on this matter. Conclusion shall, nonetheless, present still a long way before the South Pacific microstates on their way to achieving both better regional cooperation, as well as mechanisms of more effective implementation of the regional norms