International Marine Environmental Law can be defined as a normative system which constitutes the main context in environmental law in reality which is formed of various rules, standards and procedures in International Environmental Law to prevent marine environmental pollution and the whole customs of restrictions and international cooperation to preserve and protect the marine environment. Such International Environmental Law has developed after World War II when the importance of marine environment was being emphasized and led to the modern concept of international marine environmental law, Nevertheless, this did not manage to overcome the traditional international law such as absolute state jurisdiction principle, principle of freedom of the high seas, flag state principle in the current decentralized international society. Accordingly. environmental protection rapidly arose as a task to the whole human generation and consequently like in principle 21 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration. each state had to introduce a new law system on taking legal responsibility onenvironmental damages outside its jurisdiction. The efforts on establishing a new system of international marine environmental law came to success in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which establishes the existing declaratory and recommendatory provisions on marine environmental protection to an international lagal right and obligations which became the opportunity of consolidating marine environmental protection as a new area of international law. In Particular IMO has played a major role to take root the International Marine Environmental Law over the last decades since its establishment. IMO cooperates with the MEPC as a central figure and other committees such as the MSC and the LEG to prevent marine pollution and has close relationship with lOC GESAMP. UNEP which are sub-organs of UNESCO. In addition to that. the MEPC works with member states of IM0 but the working environment is quite hard since the interest of states against each other. Since IMO has long history of participating to the protectIon of marine environment it should be revaluated and approved as an important institution which played great roles in development of International Marine Environmental Law. IMO. therefore. would' take an important part in settlement of the International Marine Environmental Law in the near future.
1. Introduction 2. The Establishment and Development of International Marine Environmental Law 3. The role of IMO for the development of International Marine Environmental Law 4. Conclusion Bibllography Abstract