Vito De Lucia

Vito De Lucia is a Full Professor of International Law at the Norwegian Center for the Law of the Sea (NCLoS), UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø. His work focuses on international environmental law, law of the sea, and critical legal theory, with emphasis on ocean governance, Arctic policy, and regime interactions. He leads major research initiatives including the Norwegian Research Council-funded Future Arctic Law and Governance (FALG) project and the NCLOS AURORA Center’s Ocean Commons research stream.

Research Interests: De Lucia’s work intersects critical theory, ecology, and law, particularly in marine biodiversity governance (e.g., BBNJ Agreement), Arctic sovereignty frameworks, and spatial legal imaginaries. His recent projects explore space law interactions with ocean law, biopolitical sovereignty critiques, and interdisciplinary legal methods.

Publications: Over 50 scholarly works including books on BBNJ treaty dynamics (Routledge, 2022), ocean commons theory (Brill, 2022), and critical legal analyses of Arctic governance. His 2020 paper Rethinking the Encounter between Law and Nature in the Anthropocene won the Richard Macrory Prize.

Awards: Annual Richard Macrory Prize (2015), Honorary Mention (2019).

Grants & Projects: Principal Investigator for FALG (NOK 20M), NCLOS AURORA (NOK 15M), and contributor to EU Horizon and FRAM Center initiatives. Teaches advanced courses on international environmental law, Arctic law, and jurisprudence.

Professional Roles: Supervises 4 PhD students on topics like ecosystem approach fisheries governance and indigenous sovereignty narratives. Serves on editorial boards for Arctic Review on Law and Politics and NCLOS Blog.