Blue Ocean Law is an international law firm specializing in human and indigenous rights, self-determination, and environmental justice in the Pacific.
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Our approach
The brainchild of its founder, Blue Ocean Law takes a holistic and human rights-based approach to the practice of law. Forsaking the traditional top-down structure of most law firms, we adopt a grassroots orientation that privileges civil society and marginalized voices. The well-being of individuals and communities, particularly vulnerable ones, motivates our project and client selection.
Our areas of practice
Climate Change
Climate change poses an existential threat to humanity, and Pacific Island communities are on the frontlines of the crisis. Every fundamental right will be affected by climate change, and thus climate justice has become a cornerstone of our practice. Learn more.
Nuclear Legacies & Militarization
Militarization persists in the Pacific, with military installments and activities expanding across the region. Meanwhile, virtually nothing has been done to address the legacies of nuclear testing and other destructive activities of world powers, who converted our ancestral homelands into dumping grounds and visited untold violence on our communities. Learn more.
Resource governance
Resource governance is a hugely important issue in the Pacific, as small island states work to effectively regulate their fisheries, minerals, renewables and other resources. Learn more.
Self-Determination
Despite its status as an exalted norm of international law, self-determination has yet to be fully and finally realized in the Pacific. More than a third of the 17 non-self-governing territories recognized by the United Nations are located in Oceania. Learn more.
Indigenous Rights
Indigenous rights is one of the fastest growing areas of international law. Our team has been at the forefront of the development of indigenous norms, pushing for the formal recognition of the right to free, prior, and informed consent, along with other core prescriptions of the indigenous rights regime. Learn more.
