Prevention and Compensation of Marine Pollution Damage: Recent Developments in Europe, China and the US.

Edited by Michael G. Faure and James Hu. 7201 McKinney Circle, Frederick, MD 21705: Kluwer Law International, May 2006. [phone]. www.kluwerlaw.com. ISBN 90-411-2338-5. 396 pp. $115.00 Hardback.

Marine oil pollution is one of the most damaging environmental liabilities of our time, and is taken very seriously by governments. Although international conventions take the lead in the legal regime underpinning prevention and compensation of marine oil pollution damage, national legal systems differ considerably in how they interpret and apply their monitoring and enforcement responsibilities.

This is the first book to present a comparative analysis of the law with respect to marine oil pollution, with expert contributions emphasizing particular solutions in Europe, the United States, and China. The authors draw on the full range of legal sources, from theory and legislation to procedure and actual case studies. Written by both academics and practitioners, senior academies with a wide experience in the field, and practitioners who have extensively dealt with marine pollution issues the work is not confirmed to a mere legal analysis, but offers a more inclusive law and economics perspective, solidly built on a substantial analysis (in English) of the law in the European, United States, Chinese, and international contexts. Individual contributors focus on countries with which they have particular expertise or experience.

This book will be of interest to corporate counsel, international lawyers, academics, and policy makers, as well as to students of (international) environmental and maritime law. In addition, the book is especially valuable to non-Chinese lawyers for its clear insight into the complex Chinese environmental legal system.

Michael G. Faure is professor of comparative and international environmental law at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and academic director of the Maastricht Institute for Transnational Legal Research.

James Hu is a professor of law and the director of the Institute of Maritime Law at Shanghai Maritime University.