Additional Arguments

I. Ridley is responsible for the export of trash to Aldabra and oil spill in WPS

It was apparent that Ridley entered into MOA with a vow to address the outmost concern of United
Coalition Kindred Advocates of the Sea (UC-KAS) from finding plastic waste and debris with labels from
Joy Are Us inside the MPA (Marine Protected Areas) of Aldabra and near nesting sites of the Pawikans in
2012. Thereon, initial decision of Ridley’s government to ship the plastic debris to the southernmost island
of Aldabra which was allotted as a landfill was not reported nor it entered an agreement with Aldabra’s
government, specifically, with the Prime Minister Castro since he was enraged of such disposal. After
several negotiations, Aldabra had the trash shipped back to Ridley on the same vessel. The ship used to
transport the debris from Ridley to Aldabra was MV Joy to the World, owned by Joys Are Us. The said
cargo ship was primarily used for exporting toys and parts of toys, but it was temporarily used to transport
debris. On the same day, Typhoon Carmie hit the region and caused the sinking of MV Joy to the World. A
total of USD 300 million in damages to the ship was estimated. The cargo filled with plastic debris also sunk
during the typhoon, and 100 gallons of petroleum and crude oil from the ship leaked into the WPS.

A. The acts of Ridley violate the provisions of UNCLOS

1. Ridley did not have the right of innocent passage

Right of innocent passage. Subject to article 53 and without prejudice to article 50, ships of all
States enjoy the right of innocent passage through archipelagic waters. The archipelagic State may, without
discrimination in form or in fact among foreign ships, suspend temporarily in specified areas of its
archipelagic waters the innocent passage of foreign ships if such suspension is essential for the protection
of its security. Such suspension shall take effect only after having been duly published. 1
Passage of a foreign ship shall be considered to be prejudicial to the peace, good order or security
of the coastal State if in the territorial sea it engages in any of the following activities such as;
XXX
(g) the loading or unloading of any commodity, currency or person contrary to the customs,
fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations of the coastal State;
(k) any act aimed at interfering with any systems of communication or any other facilities or
installations of the coastal State. 2

XXX

2. Ridley violates preservation and protection of marine environment because of its failure to
assess the potential effects of its activities.

The Republic of Ridley having reasonable grounds for believing that planned activities under their
jurisdiction or control may cause substantial pollution of or significant and harmful changes to the marine
environment, shall, as far as practicable, assess the potential effects of such activities on the marine
environment and shall communicate reports of the results of such assessment. 3 Hence, mismanagement of
disposal was initially acted thereof as evidently shown in their decision, without prudent communications
and or agreements, had been incidental to subsequent sinking of the ship.
1
Section III UNCLOS
2
Article XIX, supra2
3
Section 4, Part XII: UNCLOS

B. The acts of Ridley violate the treaty of International Convention for Prevention of Pollution from
Ships
Aldabra was alarmed by the fact that there has been no action by the government
of Ridley to clean up the plastic materials and oil which have been spilled in the oceans of
WPS.

Ridley violation of the requirements of the present Convention shall be prohibited and
sanctions shall be established therefor under the law of the Administration of the ship concerned
wherever the violation occurs. Ridley is informed of such a violation and is satisfied that sufficient
evidence is available to enable proceedings to be brought in respect of the alleged violation, it shall
cause such proceedings to be taken as soon as possible, in accordance with its law.

Any violation of the requirements of the present Convention within the jurisdiction of any
Party to the Convention shall be prohibited and sanctions shall be established therefor under the
law of that Party. Whenever such a violation occurs, that Party shall either:

(a) cause proceedings to be taken in accordance with its law; or

(b) furnish to the Administration of the ship such information and evidence as may be in its
possession that a violation has occurred. 4

After several negotiations, Aldabra had the trash shipped back to Ridley on the
same vessel. Aldabra had urged the government of Ridley to act with a sense of urgency
from the blow of unexpected incidents as it directly affect the lives of the people who
depend on fishing as their main source of income.

Where information or evidence with respect to any violation of the present Convention by a
ship is furnished to the Administration of that ship, the Administration shall promptly inform the
Party which has furnished the information or evidence, and the Organization, of the action taken.

The penalties specified under the law of a Party pursuant to the present Article shall be
adequate in severity to discourage violations of the present Convention and shall be equally severe
irrespective of where the violations occur. 5 The sinking of MV Joy to the World, not only does this
contribute to marine pollution, but it also threatens marine life, especially to the species living within
the MPA of Aldabra.
4
Art IV, International Convention for Prevention of Pollution from Ships
5
supra4
II. That actions of Joy Are Us attributable to Ridley

The larger problem remained detrimental within the ocean of WPS, a shared resource which has
been polluted with tons of plastic debris and pollution yet no action has been done to address the problem.

Ridley shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and
integrity of the Earth’s ecosystem. Being state party to the United Nation, it has legal obligations to observe
and state responsibilities to perform as bound to the treaties to which they are a party thereof. 6

Joys Are Us, a private manufacturing corporation operating within the Republic of Ridley,
contributed to the pollution in the ocean of WPS in lieu to the death of migratory species namely the
pawikans where pieces of plastic and several parts of from toys labeled with Joys Are Us were found inside
its stomach.

“National authorities should endeavor to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of
economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of
pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment.”7
“The Contracting Parties shall apply: ...the polluter pays principle, by virtue of which the costs of pollution
prevention, control and reduction measures are to be borne by the polluter.” This can be interpreted in different ways
depending upon the extent of prevention and control and whether compensation for damage is included in the
definition of “reduction”. Further, the very concept of the “polluter” can vary, from the producer of merchandise to the
consumer who uses it and who pays the higher price resulting from anti-pollution production measures.8
In fact, pollution costs can be borne either by the community, by those who pollute, or by consumers.
Community assumption of the costs can be demonstrated using the example of an unregulated industry that
discharges pollutants into a river. There are at least three possibilities:
(1) the river can remain polluted and rendered unsuitable for certain downstream activities, causing the
downstream community to suffer an economic loss;
(2) the downstream community can build an adequate water treatment plant at its own cost;
(3) the polluter may receive public subsidies for controlling the pollution.
In all these possibilities, the affected community bears the cost of the pollution and of the measures
designed to eliminate it or to mitigate its effects. The PPP avoids this result by obliging the polluter to bear the full
costs of pollution, to “internalise” them. In most cases, presumably, the enterprise will in fact incorporate the costs
into the price of its product(s) and thus pass the cost on to the consumer; but it need not do this for the PPP to have
its intended effect.9

6
1992 Rio Declaration Principle 7
7
1992 Rio Declaration Principle 16
8
The 1990 International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness
9
Article 2(2)(b), 1992 Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

III. Ridley is responsible for its own failure to prevent Joy Are Us from committing the same.

There were no more records of disposal incident of Ridley since the last accident which caused the
oil spill in WPS but continual disposal to other states with thrashes that contained plastics is a
mismanagement of wastes and which must have been resolved within the state.

Aldabra’s incineration can be attributed within the state in such a way that the State took
precautionary measures to prevent transboundary harm affecting other States.

“In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according
to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not
be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.”10 The parties
should take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent or minimize the cause of climate change and mitigate its
adverse effects.11

Parties shall apply a precautionary approach to environmental protection when there is reason to believe that wastes
or other matter introduced in the marine environment are likely to cause harm even when there is no conclusive
evidence to prove a causal relation between inputs and their effects. 12

10 1992 Rio Declaration Principle 15

11 Article 3(3), 1992 Climate Change Convention
12 Article 3 (1), 1996 Protocol to the London Convention