COMMON HERITAGE OF

MANKIND
 Common heritage of mankind
The word “common”, associated with the words “heritage” and
“of mankind”, usually conveys the message of resources
belongingness to the international community or their jointly
sharing.
It is also widely related to “common property”, ‘’communal
ownership” or “common sovereignty of mankind”. Hence, it is seen
as a novel form of common ownership and an alternative to the
classical Roman law concept res communis (Common heritage of
man kind, regarded as “a contemporary version of the Roman Law
concept of res omnium communes” - (thing of the entire
community)”.
Common heritage of mankind
The word “heritage” is defined as property “which has been or
may be inherited”. It also means “something handed down from
one’s ancestors or the past, as a characteristic, a culture, tradition,
property etc”.
The concept of heritage carries the assumption that common
areas should be looked upon as inheritances transmitted down to
heirs, or as estates which by birth right are passed down from
ancestors to present and future generations.
 MEANING
• Common heritage of mankind is also termed as common
heritage of humanity or common heritage principle .
• It is a principle of international law and that holds that defined
territorial areas and elements of humanity’s common heritage
should be held in trust for future generations and to be protected
from exploitation by individuals, nation states or corporations.
• Due to the ideological differences of developed and developing
state , the common heritage of mankind principle has been
interpreted in various ways
• These interpretation have not been reconciled and there
has been no judicial consideration of common heritage of
mankind to clarify them.
• And therefore the precise legal requirements of the
principle of the common heritage of mankind remain
undefined.
• Therefore in simple terms the common heritage of mankind
is a concept in international law which believes that there
are resources which should be seen as generally
belonging to all of mankind , no state should claim
sovereignty over it.
• Example of the resources :- seabed , the moon etc..
Five Characteristics of Common Heritage
 Common heritage of mankind
The Four Principles of the Common Heritage of Mankind.
The concept of the common heritage of mankind can be considered to
consist of four distinguishable but intertwined principles.
(1) The requirement that areas outside the limits of national jurisdiction may be
used for peaceful purposes only (the principle of peaceful use)
(2) The requirement that areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction may not
be subjected to sovereignty (the principle of non-exclusive use)
(3) The requirement that the use of such areas as well as the exploration and
exploitation of their resources have to be carried out for the benefit of all mankind
(the principle of the benefit of all mankind)
(4) And the requirement that some type of international machinery is
necessary in order to regulate and supervise the use of the areas and their
resources (the principle of international machinery).
 ORIGIN
The concept was first mentioned in the preamble in 1954 ‘s
Hague convention for protection of cultural property in the event
of armed conflict and reiterate at the first UN conference on the
Law of sea by prince wan waithayakon of Thailand in 1958.
This concept was also mentioned in the outer space
treaties.
Mankind as a subject in international law also appears in
the preamble of UN charter , the preamble of the North Atlantic
Treaty 1949, and the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons , 1968.
 CORE CONCEPTUAL COMPONENTS
Maltese Ambassador Arvid Pardo one of the founder of the
common heritage of humanity concept under international law has
claimed in 1967 that it challenge the “ structural relationship
between the rich and poor countries and amounts to a revolution
not merely in the law of the sea but also in international relations”
further he said “the seabed and the ocean floor are a common
heritage of mankind and should be used and exploited for peaceful
purposes and for the exclusive benefit of mankind as a whole.”
 LAW OF SEA TREATY

In 1970 , the UN General Assembly Resolution

2749 , the declaration of principles covering the seabed
and the ocean floor was adopted by 108 nation states and
stated that the deep seabed should be preserved for
peaceful purpose and is a common heritage of mankind.
In 1982 the common heritage of mankind concept
was stated to relate to the seabed and ocean floor and
subsoil
Payoyo argues that the common heritage of
mankind principle in part Xl of the Law of Sea Treaty
should favour developing state and not merely in some
immanent ‘ affirmative action ‘ manner.
CONTROVERSIES

• Kemal Baskar has stated that the common heritage of mankind

principle is a philosophical idea that question the regime of
globally important resources regardless of their situation and
requires major changes in the world to apply it’s provisions.
• In other words the application and enforcement of the common
heritage of mankind requires a critical re examination of many well
established principle and doctrines of classical international law ,
such as acquisition of territory , consent based source of
international law , sovereignty , equality , resource allocation and
international personality .
• Underdeveloped nations often see the principle as a
means of protecting critical resources from exploitation
by capitalist nations and their will be increasing
pressure to commercially exploit common heritage of
mankind areas.
• It has been also argued that photosynthesis in its
natural and artificial forms should be considered the
common heritage of mankind.