Sophie Atkinson, October 2022
SFACT’s latest scholar, Zameel, is travelling to the UK this month to start his PhD at Leeds Beckett, under the supervision of Dr Mercedes Rosello.
Zameel joined the ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture as a Compliance Inspector eight years ago. After completing his Law Degree in 2018, he became responsible for the work related to the improvement of the legal framework which governs the fisheries sector in the Maldives. He completed a Master of Science in Maritime Affairs, with a specialisation in Maritime Law and Policy at the World Maritime University in Sweden. During his studies, he had the opportunity to attend the International Maritime Organization, International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court and International Tribunal for Law of the Sea as part of the field studies of the Master’s program.
Since his master’s course, Zameel has been working as a Senior Compliance Officer at the Ministry of Fisheries leading the Fisheries Compliance Department., where he is responsible for coordinating the work on implementing the Fisheries Act and incorporating the international obligations of Maldives as a fishing nation into our domestic legislature.
Zameel explains “my work in the Ministry includes providing legal opinion on the proposals and discussions at Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and other Regional Fisheries Management Organisations. This has given me an insight into the legal objections and concerns raised by the Coastal States in the context of their sovereign rights. There are various scholarly studies, projects, and reports published on establishing governance mechanisms in tuna RFMOs including IOTC. Similar studies have provided policy advice on decision-making and allocation regimes at IOTC. However, a legal analysis to determine the IOTC’s conformity with International Law in ensuring the sovereign rights of coastal states is yet be carried out.” It is because of this that Zameel has decided to pursue his PhD and investigate the application of Sovereign Rights of Coastal States at the IOTC.
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