ICPC Appoints New International Law Adviser

LYMINGTON, United Kingdom–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#BiodiversityBeyondNationalJurisdiction–On 1 March 2018, Mr. Kent Bressie becomes the new International Cable
Law Adviser (ICLA) for the prominent organisation, International
Cable Protection Committee (ICPC). Kent replaces Doug Burnett who
left the role in late 2017 to accept a U.S. Government appointment.

In his role, Kent will work with the ICPC’s Executive Committee,
Secretariat, Marine Environmental Advisor, and ICPC Members to represent
the interests of the organisation and guide its international legal
strategy to protect submarine cables from a variety of risks and protect
freedoms codified in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(“UNCLOS”). He will also advise the ICPC on achieving its current and
future strategic goals and on internal compliance matters.

Kent brings more than 20 years of submarine cable industry expertise to
the ICPC. As a partner and Head of International Practice at Harris,
Wiltshire & Grannis LLP (“HWG”), where he will continue to practice,
Kent specialises in cross-border and national-security regulation of
telecommunications networks, investment, and technology, and
law-of-the-sea issues. He has worked extensively in the submarine cable
sector on a wide variety of public international law, maritime,
investment, national security, regulatory, and commercial matters on six
continents and has been active in ICPC activities for the past decade.

He has led various regulatory-reform and cable-protection initiatives
including the submarine cable working groups of the U.S. Communications
Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council, which under his
leadership produced three landmark reports on submarine cable protection.

Following his appointment, Kent expressed: “I am honored to represent
and serve ICPC, its leadership and staff, and its worldwide membership
to advance further its mission to protect submarine telecommunications
and power cables. ICPC’s cable protection mission has never been more
critical. Submarine telecommunications cables carry almost all of the
world’s intercontinental Internet traffic and backhaul almost all of its
mobile phone traffic. Changes in energy markets have also created new
opportunities for cross-border submarine power cables. Yet, the world’s
oceans have become more crowded with other economic activities that
could damage submarine cables or create no-go zones in the world’s
oceans that would impair submarine cable connectivity. I will work with
the ICPC to use the law and the power of persuasion to protect submarine
cables and the freedoms to install and maintain them and to educate and
empower ICPC’s Members to engage more effectively with their own
governments.”

As International Cable Law Adviser, Kent will advise on the United
Nations development of a new treaty on conservation and sustainable use
of marine biological diversity on the high seas and continue working
with the International Seabed Authority to mitigate potential conflicts
between deep seabed mining and submarine cables.

The ICPC and its Members rely on the foundations of good governance, the
rule of international law, peer reviewed research as well as sharing the
seabed in harmony with others. For its forthcoming 2018
Diamond Jubilee Plenary, ICPC will explore legal topics regarding
the safety and security of submarine cables as well as commemorate 60
years of progress as Members will gather together in Cape Town, South
Africa from 10th-12th April 2018 to discuss the state of the submarine
cable industry.

About the ICPC: The International Cable Protection Committee was
formed in 1958 and its primary goal is to promote the safeguarding of
international submarine cables against man-made and natural hazards. The
organisation provides a forum for the exchange of technical, legal and
environmental information about submarine cables and, with more than 170
members from over 60 nations, including cable operators, owners,
manufacturers, industry service providers, as well as governments, it is
the World’s premier submarine cable organisation. For further
information about ICPC visit: www.iscpc.org
or send an e-mail to: [email protected].

Contacts

International Cable Protection Committee
Keith Schofield, +44 7836
249376
[email protected]