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International Law and Marine Areas beyond National Jurisdiction investigates competing constructions of areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) and their role in the creation and articulations of legal principles, which provides a broader perspective on the biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) process.

Nigel's chapter, "The Nature of Legal Relations between States and the Proposed BBNJ Agreement," explores the application of Hohfeld’s ideas of fundamental legal concepts to the Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) and to the proposed agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. The chapter first provides an outline of Hohfeld’s ideas of fundamental legal concepts and the relationships between them. Second, it addresses the question of whether a theory that was principally developed to consider legal relations in the context of domestic private law, and in the context of judicial reasoning has, or should have, any purchase in the context of public international law. Third, the chapter provides some examples of how the application of Hohfeld’s ideas of fundamental legal concepts and the relationships between them offers insights with respect to the interpretation and application of the LOSC. Finally, the chapter offers a Hohfeldian reading of some elements of the revised draft Agreement.