Evolution of the Antarctic Treaty System: An Analysis of its Institutional and Environmental Responses

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This Study aims to clarify the nature and the process of the evolution of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) in light of the institutional and environmental challenges it faces in the recent years.First, this study analyzed the establishment of the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty in 2003, from the perspective of international law and the law of international organizations. Shibata has overviewed the institutional development of the ATS, while Kurokami analyzed the history of the evolution of international secretariats, within which the significance of the establishment of the AT Secretariat was examined. A detailed analysis of the negotiating history of and the legal provisions relating to the establishment of the AT Secretariat (Shibata) demonstrated that the ecretariat, from institutional point of view, was unique in nature, as negotiating states was very careful not to establish it as an international organization. Second, as regards the environmental challenges, this study examined the so-called Liability Annex (adopted in 2005) to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. This study analyzed in detail the negotiating history of the Liability Annex (Shibata) and examined its substantive content from the perspective of international environmental law (Takamura). Watanabe has also examined it from the perspective of science: its consequences for scientific activities in Antarctica.As the result of the above research, this study came to the conclusion that the ATS, while coping with the institutional and environmental challenges, did not change its fundamental nature but evolved and strengthened it, as the System incorporated the general tenets of international law developments into its adaptation process, thereby demonstrating its resilience.