Legal Aspects of the Relocation of Dredged Seabed Material - Case of Slovenia

Abstract

The paper deals with the question of whether it is permissible to relocate the dredged material from the seabed from the port of Koper to another location within the territorial sea of the Republic of Slovenia. At first glance, the simple issue is considered from the point of view of the legal permissibility of such conduct, recognizing that it is a highly multidisciplinary issue. Aspects of international law, EU law, Slovenian law, and Italian law are discussed. The latter because Italy faces the same problems of dumping or relocation of dredged material in the Gulf of Trieste basin as Slovenia, unlike Croatia which does not have major ports in this area. The Slovenian and Italian regulation and experiences may be of interest to Croatia for its local ports or major ports in other parts of Adriatic.