Disentangling the 'Genuine Link': Enquiries in Sea, Air and Space Law

While the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea contains the requirement that there exist a genuine link between a ship and its flag State, neither what constitutes that link, nor the effect of its absence has been determined with unambiguous clarity. In addition, it must be enquired whether the genuine link is a requirement that concerns the opposability of the nationality, or the duties of the flag State once the nationality is conferred, or both. The fact that the genuine link as a requirement has not been singled out expressly in the relation between a State of registry and an aircraft or a space object calls for an analysis of the legal mechanisms in air law and space law in order to determine what meaningful connections are established between these means of transportation and States. © 2010 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden