Methodological and Substantive Issues in the Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare (Editions of 2023 and 2025)
DOI:
Article Metrics
Keywords:
Newport Manual, law of naval warfare, restatement of law, naval blockade, passage through straitsAbstract
This research addresses the Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare in its 2023 and 2025 editions, which is the latest collective scholarly effort in this branch, and the first work to limit its role to clarifying the law in force. The law of naval warfare is an ancient branch with its customary origins, but it lacks a comprehensive contractual framework, so it remains governed by custom and varying practices, which allowed legal experts to exert diligence to present its rules in an organized form as several manuals, including the Newport Manual (in its 2023 and 2025 editions) which is unique, according to its claim, in a methodology limited to stating the existing law, without proposing the desired law or creating it, unlike its predecessor, the 1994 San Remo Manual, which combined both.
Downloads
References
Corfu Channel Case (United Kingdom v. Albania). (1949). Merits. I.C.J. Reports.
Dannenbaum, T. (2021). Encirclement, deprivation, and humanity: Revising the San Remo Manual provisions on blockade. International Law Studies, 97. U.S. Naval War College.
Doswald-Beck, L. (1995). San Remo Manual on international law applicable to armed conflict at sea. International Review of the Red Cross, 35.
Geiß, R., & Pues, A. (2021). International manuals in international humanitarian law: A rejoinder to Wouter G. Werner. In H. Krieger & J. Püschmann (Eds.), Law-making and legitimacy in international humanitarian law. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Hague Convention (VIII) relative to the laying of automatic submarine contact mines. (1907). The Hague.
Heintschel von Heinegg, W. (1998). The law of naval warfare and international straits. In M. N. Schmitt & L. C. Green (Eds.), The law of armed conflict: Into the next millennium. International Law Studies, 71. U.S. Naval War College.
Heintschel von Heinegg, W. (2000). Naval blockade. In M. N. Schmitt (Ed.), International law across the spectrum of conflict: Essays in honour of Professor L. C. Green. International Law Studies, 75. U.S. Naval War College.
Kraska, J. (2025). Distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attacks at sea in the new era of the law of naval warfare. Chicago Journal of International Law, 26(1).
Kraska, J. (2025, June 11). A map to the second edition of the Newport Manual on the law of naval warfare. Articles of War, Lieber Institute West Point. https://lieber.westpoint.edu/map-second-edition-newport-manual-law-naval-warfare/
Liliansa, D. (2026). Belligerent activities in neutral exclusive economic zones: Balancing war and neutrality in contemporary naval warfare. International Review of the Red Cross.
Lijnzaad, L. (2022). Going for a test drive? Some observations on the turn to informality in the laws of armed conflict. International Review of the Red Cross, 104(920–921).
Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare. (2023). (1st ed.). International Law Studies, 101. U.S. Naval War College.
Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare. (2025). (2nd ed.). International Law Studies, 105. U.S. Naval War College.
Oral, N. (2019). Navigating the Oceans: Old and New Challenges for the Law of the Sea for Straits Used for International Navigation. Ecology Law Quarterly, 46.
Petrov, A. (2020). Expert laws of war: Restating and making law in expert processes. Edward Elgar Publishing.
San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea. (1994).
Seta, M. (2025). UNCLOS during armed conflict: Due regard in the exclusive economic zones of neutral coastal states. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 74(S1).
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. (1982). Montego Bay.
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Law and Political Science College
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The published journal version is considered the official version of record for documentation and citation purposes.
