International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Tribunal international du droit de la mer  (French)
Official logo
Seat	Hamburg, Germany
Working languages	English French
Judges from	21 nations
Leaders
• President	Judge Albert Hoffmann
• Vice President	Judge Tomas Heidar
Establishment
• UNCLOS adopted	10 December 1982
• UNCLOS in force	16 November 1994
Website http://www.itlos.org

ITLOS seen from Elbchaussee, close to the River Elbe

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 10 December 1982. The Convention entered into force on 16 November 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]

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 2021, 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]

Current judges[]

Country	Name	Inauguration	President	Vice president
Cape Verde		1999	2008–2011
Poland	Stanisław Pawlak	2005
Japan	Shunji Yanai	2005	2011–2014
Tanzania		2005
South Africa		2005	2020-	2011–2014
Algeria		2008		2014–2017
South Korea	Jin-Hyun Paik	2009	2017-2020
Malta		2011		2017-2020
Ukraine		2011
Mexico		2014
Iceland		2014		2020-
Paraguay		2017
India	Neeru Chadha	2017
Thailand		2017
Russia		2017
Netherlands		2017
Chile		2020
Jamaica		2020
Italy		2020
Cameroon		2020
China		2020

Former judges[]

Country	Name	Inauguration	Until
Bulgaria		1996	2011
Russia		1996	2008
Brazil		2016	2016
Croatia		1996	2005
South Korea		1996	2008
France	Jean-Pierre Cot	2002	2020
United Kingdom		1996	2005
Grenada	L. Dolliver M. Nelson	1996	2014
Belize		1996	2001
China		2008	2020
China		2001	2007
Iceland		1996	2002
Austria	Helmut Türk	2005	2014
Argentina		1996	2011
Lebanon		1996	2017
Tanzania	Joseph Sinde Warioba	1996	2008
Argentina	Elsa Kelly	2011	2020
Trinidad and Tobago		2002	2003
Senegal		1996	2020
China		1996	2000
Trinidad and Tobago		2003	2020
Cameroon	Paul Bamela Engo	1996	2008
India	P. Chandrasekhara Rao	1996	2017
Germany	Rüdiger Wolfrum	1996	2017
Japan		1996	2005
Ghana		1996	2005
Italy		1996	2011
Brazil		1996	2015
Russia		2008	2017

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[A]		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 ^ The European Union replaced and succeeded the European Community as a party to the case on 1 December 2009.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

• Official ITLOS Site
• International Foundation for the Law of the Sea
• Privileges and Immunities, Berlin, 14 December 2004

Coordinates: 53°33′04″N 9°51′03″E / 53.55111°N 9.85083°E / 53.55111; 9.85083