OCEAN
VISION
LEGAL
Lawyers of the Ocean
'We must save the Ocean
if we are to save ourselves.'
(Elisabeth Mann-Borgese)
Ocean Vision Legal is the first law firm worldwide entirely specialising in Ocean Protection and its interfaces with Climate Change and Human Rights.
We focus on the enforcement of existing obligations to protect the marine environment and advocacy for new laws, to provide better protection standards for the Ocean. We exclusively work together with NGOs, civil society groups and individuals on public interest cases.
OUR MISSION
Our Mission is to safeguard the Ocean through Law. We do so by holding State and other actors accountable for their actions (Ocean Litigation), offering legal expertise to organisations, people and communities whose livelihoods depend on a healthy Ocean and championing legislation that recognizes the Rights of Nature and Ecocide.
OUR VISION
We aspire to be the leading law firm driving a Paradigm Shift in which people recognise Nature as an entity with intrinsic values worthy of protection in itself, rather than a resource for human benefit – a Paradigm Shift that is vital to foster a global community that values, respects, and protects the Ocean for the sake of present and future generations of all life on the planet.
EXPERTISE & SERVICES
Ocean Vision Legal solidly stands on two legs:
By enforcing them in Court, we hold actors (States & companies) accountable for their marine protection obligations.
We champion establishing ground-breaking legislation that recognises the legal Rights of the natural World (Rights of Nature & Ecocide).
'States have the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment.'
(Art. 192 of the 1982 UN Convention for the Law of the Sea)
KNOWLEDGE HUB
Education is a fundamental factor for the implementation of effective and long-lasting environmental protection measures. We are committed to empower communities, contribute to capacity building and inspire the next generation of Ocean defenders by sharing pro bono workshops, lectures and free educational resources.
"If humankind were given a mandate to do everything in our power to undermine the Earth's functioning, we could hardly do a better job than we have in the past thirty years on the world's oceans, both by what we are putting into it – millions of tons of trash and toxic materials – and by what we are taking out of it – millions of tons of wildlife. Yet only recently have we begun to understand the scale of those impacts."
(Dr. Sylvia Earle)
Dr. Anna von Rebay LL.M.
Founder | Lawyer | Ocean Litigation
Ambassador for the German Committee of the UN Ocean Decade
Mentor for Young Ocean Advocates (EU4Ocean Coalition by the European Commission)
Anna combines her deep passion for the ocean with sharp litigation tools. She specialises in International Law of the Sea and marine protection in international, German and EU law. Focus areas include but are not limited to:
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Prohibition of Bottom Trawling
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Deep Sea Mining and Violation of Human Rights
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Rights of Nature and Ecocide
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Litigation for Marine Protection.
CLIENTS & PARTNERS
EXAMPLES OF OVL's WORK
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