International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is an intergovernmental organization created by the mandate of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. It was established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed at Montego Bay, Jamaica, on December 10, 1982. The Convention entered into force on November 16, 1994, and established an international framework for law over "all ocean space, its uses and resources". The ITLOS is one of four dispute resolution mechanisms listed at Article 287 of the UNCLOS.[1]

International Tribunal
for the Law of the Sea

Tribunal international du
droit de la mer
  (French)
Official logo
  • Dark blue: States with judges in the ITLOS
  • Dark green: States formerly with judges in the ITLOS
  • Light green: Other UNCLOS parties
Seat Hamburg, Germany
Working
languages
Judges from21 nations
Leaders
 President
Jin-Hyun Paik
 Vice President
David Joseph Attard
Establishment
 UNCLOS adopted
10 December 1982
 UNCLOS in force
16 November 1994
ITLOS seen from Elbchaussee, close to the River Elbe

The tribunal is based in Hamburg, Germany. The Convention also established the International Seabed Authority, with responsibility for the regulation of seabed mining beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, that is beyond the limits of the territorial sea, the contiguous zone and the continental shelf. There are currently 168 signatories, 167 states plus the European Union. As of 2012, holdouts included the United States[2] and the Islamic Republic of Iran.[3]

Composition

According to its founding statute, the Tribunal has a set of 21 judges who serve from a variety of states parties, "according to a method that intends to assure an equitable geographical representation".[4]

At the request of Chile and the European Union, the Tribunal set up a special chamber composed of 5 judges to deal with the Case concerning the Conservation and Sustainable Exploitation of Swordfish Stocks in the South-Eastern Pacific Ocean (Chile/European Community).

By agreement of the parties Ghana and Ivory Coast, the Tribunal formed a special chamber composed of 5 judges to deal with the Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean (Ghana/Côte d'Ivoire).

By agreement of the parties Mauritius and Maldives, the Tribunal formed a special chamber of 7 permanent judges and 2 ad hoc judges to deal with the Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives).[5]

Holdouts

Following a Reagan administration decision, the United States remained a holdout until at least 2012. Some concern was expressed in 2012 over the potential of the ITLOS to enforce its decisions related to greenhouse gas emissions.[2]

Iran is a signatory, but not a party, to the UNCLOS. In the case of the Stena Impero, a lawyer opined that:[3]

Iran are not signatories of UNCLOS and the only legal forum is ITLOS, but Iran would either not participate or would ignore any ruling in any event.

Current judges

CountryNameInaugurationPresidentVice president
Senegal Tafsir Malick Ndiaye 1996
Cape Verde José Luis Jesus 1999 20082011
FranceJean-Pierre Cot2002
Trinidad and TobagoAnthony Amos Lucky2003
PolandStanisław Pawlak2005
JapanShunji Yanai200520112014
TanzaniaJames L. Kateka2005
South Africa Albert J.Hoffmann 2005 20112014
ChinaZhiguo Gao2008
AlgeriaBoualem Bouguetaia200820142017
South KoreaJin-Hyun Paik20092017-
ArgentinaElsa Kelly2011
MaltaDavid Joseph Attard20112017-
UkraineMarkiyan Z. Kulyk2011
MexicoAlonso Gómez-Robledo Verduzco2014
IcelandTomas Heidar2014
ParaguayÓscar Cabello Sarubbi2017
IndiaNeeru Chadha2017
ThailandKriangsak Kittichaisaree2017
RussiaRoman Kolodkin2017
NetherlandsLiesbeth Lijnzaad2017
ChileMaría Teresa Infante2020

On August 24, 2020, the Chinese ambassador to Hungary, Duan Jielong, was elected a member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).[6]

Former judges

CountryNameInaugurationUntil
LebanonJoseph Akl19962017
United KingdomDavid Heywood Anderson19962005
Trinidad and TobagoLennox Fitzroy Ballah20022003
CameroonPaul Bamela Engo19962008
ArgentinaHugo Caminos19962011
BrazilAntonio Cachapuz de Medeiros20162016
IndiaP. Chandrasekhara Rao19962017
IcelandGuðmundur Eiríksson19962002
RussiaVladimir Vladimirovich Golitsyn20082017
RussiaAnatoly Lazarevich Kolodkin19962008
BelizeEdward Arthur Laing19962001
BrazilVicente Marotta Rangel19962015
BulgariaAlexander Yankov19962011
ChinaGuangjian Xu20012007
ChinaLihai Zhao19962000
CroatiaBudislav Vukas19962005
GhanaThomas A. Mensah19962005
ItalyTullio Treves19962011
JapanSoji Yamamoto19962005
South KoreaChoon-Ho Park19962008
TanzaniaJoseph Sinde Warioba19962008
TunisiaMohamed Mouldi Marsit19962005
AustriaHelmut Türk20052014
GrenadaL. Dolliver M. Nelson19962014
GermanyRüdiger Wolfrum19962017

Cases

No. Name Applicant Respondent Case began Case ended Disposition
1 The M/V "Saiga" Case  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Guinea 13 November 1997 4 December 1997 Judgment on prompt release
2 The M/V "Saiga" (No. 2) Case  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Guinea 13 January 1998 1 July 1999 Judgment on merits
3 Southern Bluefin Tuna Cases  New Zealand  Japan 30 July 1999 27 August 1999 Order on provisional measures
4  Australia
5 The "Camouco" Case  Panama  France 17 January 2000 7 February 2000 Judgment on prompt release
6 The "Monte Confurco" Case  Seychelles  France 27 November 2000 18 December 2000 Judgment on prompt release
7 Case concerning the Conservation and Sustainable Exploitation of Swordfish Stocks in the South-Eastern Pacific Ocean  Chile /  European Union[upper-alpha 1] 19 December 2000 16 December 2009 Terminated at request of parties
8 The "Grand Prince" Case  Belize  France 21 March 2001 20 April 2001 Judgment on prompt release
9 The "Chaisiri Reefer 2" Case  Panama  Yemen 3 July 2001 13 July 2001 Terminated at request of parties
10 The MOX Plant Case  Ireland  United Kingdom 9 November 2001 3 December 2001 Order on provisional measures
11 The "Volga" Case  Russia  Australia 2 December 2002 23 December 2002 Judgment on prompt release
12 Case concerning Land Reclamation by Singapore in and Around the Straits of Johor  Malaysia  Singapore 5 September 2003 8 October 2003 Order on provisional measures
13 The "Juno Trader" Case  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Guinea-Bissau 18 November 2004 18 December 2004 Judgment on prompt release
14 The "Hoshinmaru" Case  Japan  Russia 6 July 2007 6 August 2007 Judgment on prompt release
15 The "Tomimaru" Case  Japan  Russia 6 July 2007 6 August 2007 Judgment on prompt release
16 Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal  Bangladesh /  Myanmar 14 December 2009 14 March 2012 Judgment on merits
17 Responsibilities and Obligations of States Sponsoring Persons and Entities with Respect to Activities in the Area International Seabed Authority 14 May 2010 1 February 2011 Advisory opinion
18 The M/V "Louisa" Case  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Spain 24 November 2010 28 May 2013 Judgment on merits
19 The M/V "Virginia G" Case  Panama /  Guinea-Bissau 4 July 2011 14 April 2014 Judgment on merits
20 The "ARA Libertad" Case  Argentina  Ghana 14 November 2012 15 December 2012 Order on provisional measures
21 Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission 28 March 2013 2 April 2015 Advisory opinion
22 The "Arctic Sunrise" Case  Netherlands  Russia 21 October 2013 22 November 2013 Order on provisional measures
23 Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean  Ghana /  Ivory Coast 3 December 2014 23 September 2017 Judgment on merits
24 The "Enrica Lexie" Incident  Italy  India 21 July 2015 24 August 2015 Order on provisional measures
25 The M/V "Norstar" Case  Panama  Italy 17 December 2015 10 April 2019 Judgment on merits
26 Case concerning the Detention of Three Ukrainian Naval Vessels  Ukraine  Russia 16 April 2019 25 May 2019 Order on provisional measures
27 The M/T "San Padre Pio" Case   Switzerland  Nigeria 21 May 2019 6 July 2019 Order on provisional measures
28 Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean  Mauritius /  Maldives 24 September 2019 Ongoing
29 The M/T "San Padre Pio" (No. 2) Case   Switzerland /  Nigeria 17 December 2019 Ongoing
Notes
  1. The European Union replaced and succeeded the European Community as a party to the case on 1 December 2009.

References

  1. SM Mitchell; EJ Powell. "Forum Shopping for the Best Adjudicator: Conflict Management and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos)" (PDF). APSA 2011 Annual Meeting Paper. American Political Science Association.
  2. Groves, Steven (12 March 2012). "Accession to U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea Would Expose the U.S. to Baseless Climate Change Lawsuits". The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012.
  3. "Iran strikes in Strait of Hormuz as Middle East tanker tensions explode". Trade Winds. 22 July 2019.
  4. García-Revillo, Miguel G. (2016). "3. International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)". Yearbook of International Environmental Law. 27: 424–426. doi:10.1093/yiel/yvx077.
  5. "Press release" (PDF). www.itlos.org. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  6. huaxia. "Chinese diplomat elected member of int'l tribunal for law of the sea". Xinhua Net. Archived from the original on 27 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.

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