Antarctic Law
The Antarctic Treaty System is a unique suite of international legal instruments that regulate the actions of member states (countries) in the area south of 60° South latitude.
The Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington DC on 1 December 1959 and entered into force on 23 June 1961, with Australia being among its original Parties. The Treaty now has 45 Parties, including 28 ‘Consultative Parties’. The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, which was established in 2004 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, supports work under the treaty including the annual Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.
Both the 1972 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS) and the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid Protocol) have subsequently been adopted under the auspices of the Antarctic Treaty. The Parties also adopted the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA) in 1988, but this never entered into force and was essentially superseded by the Madrid Protocol. Most recently, the Parties adopted an additional Annex to the Madrid Protocol in 2005 (Annex VI: Liability Arising from Environmental Emergencies), setting out rules for liability and compensation for damage arising from environmental emergencies in Antarctica. Parties are currently implementing the provision of Annex VI, prior to it entering into force.
Two additional treaties also apply to activities in the Antarctic: the 1980 Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which regulates fishing activities, and the 2001 Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), which seeks to protect these birds from incidental mortality. The Secretariats of both of these treaties are headquartered in Hobart, Australia. Although not directly under the auspices of the Antarctic Treaty, these two treaties work in close cooperation with the Antarctic Treaty System.
Useful additional information can be found on the website of the Australian Government Antarctic Division