Profile

Mr Eden Charles is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, and is an independent consultant in international law.  Mr Charles is also the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority for the Enterprise.  Mr Charles also serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board of One Ocean Hub UKRI. A former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Deputy Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations, New York, Mr Charles has more than twenty-five years  expertise and experience in bilateral and multilateral negotiations, public international law, the law of the sea, international criminal law and multilateral diplomacy. He was elected Chairman of the Sixth Committee (Legal Affairs) of the United Nations General Assembly for its 70th Session, and was appointed by the President of the United Nations General Assembly, as the first Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the conclusion of an international legally binding agreement under the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction. Mr Charles, was the Coordinator of the annual UNGA resolution on Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea for 4 years, and is a former facilitator of the working groups of the Meeting of States Parties to UNCLOS on the allocation of seats to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. He has also been a delegate and advisor at numerous international conferences, seminars and workshops; and has published articles on different areas on international law.

Degrees

LLB(Hons), London;  Post Graduate Certificate in Law( with Merit), University of London; BA(Hons) History and Law, UWI; Diploma International Commercial Arbitration, NYU; Certificate in Maritime Boundary Delimitation ,University of Durham, International Boundary Research Unit; Certificate in Boundary Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, University of Durham, International Boundary Research Unit; Certificate in Human Rights Law, UNITAR; Diplomas in WTO Law.

Teaching Interests

 International Trade Law, Employment Law, Jurisprudence, Public International Law, and Family Law.

Research Interests

Law of the Sea (new trends and emerging issues, maritime boundary delimitation), Public International Law (legal issues in disarmament and peace and security, addressing impunity for international crimes), International Trade Law (issues affecting developing countries), Climate Change (compensation and moving maritime zones), sustainable development

Publications

Common Heritage of Mankind and the Deep Seabed Area Beyond National Jurisdiction: Past, Current, and Future Prospects Edwin Egede, Eden Charles, Marine Technology Society (MTS) Journal, Vol.55., No.6, Nov./Dec. 2021;

  The Art of Negotiation for Small States, E. Charles in the book entitled: Environment Law and International Dispute Resolution published by Springer.  Editors-Professor Catherine Iorns and Professor Petra Butler, Victoria University of Wellington, 2021.

  The Enterprise under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Common Heritage of Mankind, E. Charles, Publication entitled: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Part XI Regime And the International Seabed Authority: A Twenty-Five Year Journey- publisher, BRILL.NV. The Netherlands.

 A Study on issues related to the Operationalization of the Enterprise in particular on the legal, Technical and Financial Implications for the International Seabed Authority and for States Parties to the Montego Bay, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; Egede, E., Pal, M., & Charles, E. 2019,    Technical Report. Kingston, Jamaica: International Seabed Authority. 50 pp

 Legal Liability for Environmental Harm from Deep Seabed Mining "Synthesis and Overview" Paper No.1 July 2018.  E. Charles. Neil Craik, et al.   

Commonwealth Law Bulletin, Volume 4, number 2, article entitled: " Strengthening Humanitarian Law: Commonwealth countries and the Arms Trade Treaty”

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Part XI Regime and the International Seabed Authority: A Twenty-Five Year Journey" published on 19 Apr 2022 by Brill | Nijhoff. https://brill.com/view/title/6167