The Associazione di Consulenza in Diritto Internazionale del Mare (ASCOMARE) is an international platform established in 2018 to provide pro bono legal consultancy and technical assistance to Governments, public and private entities as well as NGOs. The main goal of ASCOMARE is to facilitate the widespread and uniform implementation of the law of the sea. This includes first and foremost its framework treaty, namely The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), aiming at establishing a legal order for the oceans and seas.
The team of ASCOMARE constitutes of experts and professionals from different countries who already served in important international organisations and agencies, including the EU, UN/OLA, UNDP, UNEP, UNICEF, and ILO, as well as in top research institutions.
Since its establishment, ASCOMARE has been involved in a number of consultancy and research activities to promote the full implementation of the law of the sea and to strengthen cooperation in the protection and preservation of the marine environment. Notably, the technical assessment conducted by ASCOMARE on the level of compliance of Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) with the provisions of Council Directive 92/43/CEE culminated into a formal request for infringement procedure filed, on 19 April 2019, by ASCOMARE to the European Commission, in accordance with article 258 TFEU.
In 2020, ASCOMARE started a project in Apulia (Italy) promoting small-scale fisheries in Salento, and launched a call for submissions for the First Edition of its Yearbook on the Law of the Sea (YLoS).
The work of ASCOMARE is inspired by humanitarian and environmental principles.
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