PRAVNI OKVIRI EKONOMSKOG KORIŠĆENjA KASPIJSKOG MORA

Abstract

The main goal of this research is to present the legal framework that determines the manner and scope of exploitation of natural resources in the Caspian region. This goal was achieved by analyzing the relevant international agreements applied in this geographical area, using the historical method. Then, the relevant international agreements and customs that are applied to the status issues of the sea and lakes, which are important for defining the legal regime of reference for regulating the use of these waters and their resources, are analyzed. In this part of the analysis, a comparative method was mostly used, which compared the provisions contained in universal international treaties with the provisions contained in regional international treaties. The main results of the research, in the part related to the status determination of the Caspian water basin, is that none of the known concepts for determining the status can be fully applied to it, that it contains elements of the closed sea, and elements of the border lake and elements condominium, and that all this together potentially represents elements of a new unique concept. In the part of the paper that refers to the legal framework of exploitation of the observed area, the main conclusion is that the most reference norms for its determination are contained in regional instruments that regulate the issue of environmental protection because they direct the manner and scope of economic exploitation. The limitations of this research are first of all that of several aspects of the status determination of the observed area, it is limited only to the legal aspect, and that it is limited to the analysis of the impact of environmental norms on the subject of research.