About the Journal

The Toothless Law is a scholarly journal examining maritime and ocean law, with particular attention to Indonesia as an archipelagic state. It explores the relationship between legal norms, their implementation, and their effects on coastal communities and the marine environment. The journal welcomes doctrinal, empirical, comparative, and interdisciplinary studies on ocean governance, fisheries, shipping, coastal and small-island governance, marine environmental protection, and access to justice.

The Toothless Law

Journal Overview

The Toothless Law is a scholarly journal dedicated to maritime and ocean law, with particular attention to Indonesia as an archipelagic state. The journal examines the relationship between legal norms, their implementation, and their consequences for coastal communities, maritime activities, and the marine environment.

The name The Toothless Law uses “toothless law” as a critical metaphor for the gap between legal rules and their practical effectiveness. It invites inquiry into when and why law fails to provide protection, as well as the conditions under which legal systems work effectively. The journal encourages scholarship connecting what the law ought to prescribe (das Sollen) with how it operates in practice (das Sein).

The journal serves legal scholars, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and graduate students. It welcomes rigorous contributions that address clearly defined legal questions and offer theoretical, methodological, or practical insights into maritime and ocean law. Comparative and international studies are welcome when they advance understanding of legal challenges facing Indonesia or other archipelagic and coastal states.

Information

Publication Information

The journal publishes original research articles, conceptual studies, case analyses, and policy studies using doctrinal, empirical, comparative, or interdisciplinary approaches. Each contribution must demonstrate a clear connection to maritime and ocean law and explain its contribution to legal scholarship or practice.

Its scope includes national and international law of the sea; ocean and archipelagic governance; fisheries law; shipping and port regulation; coastal and small-island governance; marine environmental protection; and the rights of coastal communities, small-scale fishers, Indigenous peoples, and customary law communities.

Across these areas, the journal welcomes studies on law enforcement, institutional capacity, accountability, dispute resolution, access to justice, and the legal implications of public policy. Contributions may examine how maritime laws and policies affect rights, livelihoods, participation, and well-being.

Perspectives on gender justice, sustainable development, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) may inform a study when directly connected to a substantive legal issue within the journal’s scope. Interdisciplinary submissions must retain a clear legal focus and provide a substantive legal analysis.

Journal Identification
  • Journal title: The Toothless Law
  • Subject area: Maritime and Ocean Law
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  • Frequency: [To be confirmed]
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  • OAI-PMH endpoint: [To be confirmed]
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  • Editor-in-Chief: [To be confirmed]
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