A New Approach Towards the Legal Status of the Antarctic: Antarctic as Common Heritage of Mankind

Antarctic is one of the few regions on the Earth whose issues (particularly its legal issues) have not been adequately addressed and examined in the past decades for various reasons, including due to its geographical and natural location as a remote area. Notwithstanding, the new changes and developments occurred in the international community in the recent decades have demonstrated that there is no longer any area on the Earth towards which the world’s countries may be indifferent. In particular, the unique characteristics of the Antarctic have made it an area which has a special situation in the view of the world’s countries, especially developing countries. This is why the examination of the legal issues related to the Antarctic and the analysis of its existing legal regime are important. Although the presence of explorers in the Antarctic in the recent centuries and such justifications as adjacency have been used by a few states to claim territories in the Antarctic, the status of the Antarctic is so unique that it can be considered in the category of the areas recognized by international community as areas subject to the legal regime of common heritage of mankind (the areas such as the seabed and subsoil of the high seas and outer space). Accordingly, this paper analyses the status of the Antarctic and its legal regime and argues that, considering the unique characteristics of the Antarctic, it has the potential to be recognized by the international community as an area of common heritage of mankind. As a conclusion, the Antarctic can be subject to the legal regime arising from the concept of common heritage of mankind or a modified approach towards the common heritage of mankind in a way to meet the interests of the claimant states on one side and the international community on the other.