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 in Article 287 of the UNCLOS.[1] Although the Tribunal was established by a United Nations convention, it is not an “organ” of the United Nations. Even so, it maintains close links with the United Nations and in 1997 the Tribunal concluded an Agreement on Cooperation and Relationship between the United Nations and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which establishes a mechanism for cooperation between the two institutions.[2]

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Tribunal international du droit de la mer (French)
Official logo of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Official logo
SeatGermany Hamburg, Germany
Working languages
Judges from21 nations
Leaders
• President
South Africa Judge Albert Hoffmann
• Vice President
Iceland Judge Tomas Heidar
Establishment
• UNCLOS adopted
10 December 1982
• UNCLOS in force
16 November 1994
Website
Official website Edit this at Wikidata
A large building with trees in front
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 December 2022, holdouts included the United States[3] and the Islamic Republic of Iran.[4]

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".[5]

At the request of Chile and the European Union, the Tribunal set up a special chamber composed of five 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 five 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 seven permanent judges and two ad hoc judges to deal with the Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives).[6]

Seats

Disputes referred to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea or one of its chambers can be heard in Germany[7] or in Singapore.[8][9]

Current judges
Judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Country Name Inauguration President Vice president
Cape Verde Cape Verde José Luís Jesus 1999 2008–2011
Poland Poland Stanisław Pawlak2005
Japan Japan Shunji Yanai20052011–2014
Tanzania Tanzania James Kateka2005
South Africa South Africa Albert J. Hoffmann 20052020–present 2011–2014
Algeria Algeria Boualem Bouguetaia20082014–2017
South Korea South Korea Paik Jin-hyun20092017–2020
Malta Malta David Attard20112017–2020
Ukraine Ukraine Markiyan Kulyk2011
Mexico Mexico Alonso Gómez-Robledo2014
Iceland Iceland Tomas Heiðar20142020–present
Paraguay Paraguay Óscar Cabello Sarubbi2017
India India Neeru Chadha2017
Thailand Thailand Kriangsak Kittichaisaree2017
Russia Russia Roman Kolodkin2017
Netherlands Netherlands Liesbeth Lijnzaad2017
Chile Chile María Teresa Infante Caffi2020
Jamaica Jamaica Kathy-Ann Brown2020
Italy Italy Ida Caracciolo2020
Cameroon Cameroon Maurice Kamga2020
China China Duan Jielong2020

Former judges
Former judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Country Name Inauguration Until
Bulgaria Bulgaria Alexander Yankov19962011
Russia Russia Anatoly Kolodkin19962008
Brazil Brazil Antonio Cachapuz de Medeiros20162016
Croatia Croatia Budislav Vukas19962005
South Korea South Korea Choon-ho Park19962008
France France Jean-Pierre Cot20022020
United Kingdom United Kingdom David Heywood Anderson19962005
Grenada Grenada Dolliver Nelson19962014
Belize Belize Edward Arthur Laing19962001
China China Gao Zhiguo20082020
China China Xu Guangjian20012007
Iceland Iceland Guðmundur Eiríksson19962002
Austria Austria Helmut Türk20052014
Argentina Argentina Hugo Caminos19962011
Lebanon Lebanon Joseph Akl19962017
Tanzania Tanzania Joseph Warioba19962008
Argentina Argentina Elsa Kelly20112020
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Lennox Fitzroy Ballah20022003
Senegal Senegal Tafsir Malick Ndiaye19962020
China China Zhao Lihai19962000
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Anthony Lucky20032020
Cameroon Cameroon Paul Engo19962008
India India P. Chandrasekhara Rao19962017
Germany Germany Rüdiger Wolfrum19962017
Japan Japan Soji Yamamoto19962005
Ghana Ghana Thomas Mensah19962005
Italy Italy Tullio Treves19962011
Brazil Brazil Vicente Marotta Rangel19962015
Russia Russia Vladimir Golitsyn20082017

Cases
Cases of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Name Applicant Respondent Case began Case ended Disposition
The M/V "Saiga" Case  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Guinea 13 November 1997 4 December 1997 Judgment on prompt release
The M/V "Saiga" (No. 2) Case  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Guinea 13 January 1998 1 July 1999 Judgment on merits
Southern Bluefin Tuna Cases  New Zealand  Japan 30 July 1999 27 August 1999 Order on provisional measures
 Australia
The "Camouco" Case  Panama  France 17 January 2000 7 February 2000 Judgment on prompt release
The "Monte Confurco" Case  Seychelles  France 27 November 2000 18 December 2000 Judgment on prompt release
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
The "Grand Prince" Case  Belize  France 21 March 2001 20 April 2001 Judgment on prompt release
The "Chaisiri Reefer 2" Case  Panama  Yemen 3 July 2001 13 July 2001 Terminated at request of parties
The MOX Plant Case  Ireland  United Kingdom 9 November 2001 3 December 2001 Order on provisional measures
The "Volga" Case  Russia  Australia 2 December 2002 23 December 2002 Judgment on prompt release
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
The "Juno Trader" Case  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Guinea-Bissau 18 November 2004 18 December 2004 Judgment on prompt release
The "Hoshinmaru" Case  Japan  Russia 6 July 2007 6 August 2007 Judgment on prompt release
The "Tomimaru" Case  Japan  Russia 6 July 2007 6 August 2007 Judgment on prompt release
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
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
The M/V "Louisa" Case  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Spain 24 November 2010 28 May 2013 Judgment on merits
The M/V "Virginia G" Case  Panama /  Guinea-Bissau 4 July 2011 14 April 2014 Judgment on merits
The "ARA Libertad" Case  Argentina  Ghana 14 November 2012 15 December 2012 Order on provisional measures
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
The "Arctic Sunrise" Case  Netherlands  Russia 21 October 2013 22 November 2013 Order on provisional measures
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
The "Enrica Lexie" Incident  Italy  India 21 July 2015 24 August 2015 Order on provisional measures
The M/V "Norstar" Case  Panama  Italy 17 December 2015 10 April 2019 Judgment on merits
Case concerning the Detention of Three Ukrainian Naval Vessels  Ukraine  Russia 16 April 2019 25 May 2019 Order on provisional measures
The M/T "San Padre Pio" Case   Switzerland  Nigeria 21 May 2019 6 July 2019 Order on provisional measures
Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean  Mauritius /  Maldives 24 September 2019 Ongoing
The M/T "San Padre Pio" (No. 2) Case   Switzerland /  Nigeria 17 December 2019 29 December 2021 Terminated at request of parties
The M/T "Heroic Idun" Case  Marshall Islands  Equatorial Guinea 10 November 2022 15 November 2022 Terminated at request of applicant
Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law 12 December 2022 Ongoing
  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. "International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: Relationship with the United Nations". www.itlos.org. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  3. 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.
  4. "Iran strikes in Strait of Hormuz as Middle East tanker tensions explode". Trade Winds. 22 July 2019.
  5. 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.
  6. "Press release" (PDF). www.itlos.org. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  7. "International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: Seat". www.itlos.org. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  8. ITLOS. "ITLOS AND SINGAPORE SIGN MODEL AGREEMENT TO ENABLE THE TRIBUNAL TO SIT IN SINGAPORE" (PDF).
  9. Auto, Hermes (11 June 2020). "Law of the sea disputes can now be heard in Singapore under signed agreement | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
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