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
  • Dark blue: States with judges in the ITLOS.
  • Dark green: States formerly with judges in the ITLOS.
  • Light green: Other UNCLOS parties.
SeatGermany Hamburg, Germany
Working
languages
Judges from 21 nations
Leaders
 -  President Vladimir V. Golitsyn
 -  Vice President Boualem Bouguetaia
Establishment
 -  UNCLOS adopted 10 December 1982 
 -  UNCLOS in force 16 November 1994 
Website
http://www.itlos.org
ITLOS seen from 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 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 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.

The Tribunal has the power to settle disputes between party states (there are currently 161: 160 states plus the European Union).

Composition

According to its founding statute, the Tribunal has a set of 21 serving judges from a variety of states parties in three primary bodies:

In addition, at the request of Chile and the European Union, the Tribunal also set up a special chamber to deal with the case concerning the Conservation and Sustainable Exploitation of Swordfish Stocks in the South-Eastern Pacific Ocean (Chile/European Union).

Current judges

CountryNameInaugurationPresidentVice president
Algeria Algeria Boualem Bouguetaia 2008 2014–
Argentina Argentina Elsa Kelly 2011
Brazil Brazil Vicente Marotta Rangel 1996
Cape Verde Cape Verde José Luis Jesus 1999 2008–2011
China China Zhiguo Gao 2008
France France Jean-Pierre Cot 2002
Germany Germany Rüdiger Wolfrum 1996 2005–2008 1996–1999
India India P. Chandrasekhara Rao 1996 1999–2002
Japan Japan Shunji Yanai 2005 2011–2014
Lebanon Lebanon Joseph Akl 1996 2005–2008
Malta Malta David Joseph Attard 2011
Poland Poland Stanisław Pawlak 2005
Russia Russia Vladimir Vladimirovich Golitsyn 2008 2014–
Senegal Senegal Tafsir Malick Ndiaye 1996
South Africa South Africa Albert J.Hoffmann 2005 2011–2014
South Korea South Korea Jin-Hyun Paik 2009
Tanzania Tanzania James L. Kateka 2005
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Anthony Amos Lucky 2003
Ukraine Ukraine Markiyan Z. Kulyk 2011
Mexico Mexico Alonso Gómez-Robledo Verduzco 2014
Iceland Iceland Tomas Heidar 2014

Former judges

CountryNameInaugurationUntil
Argentina Argentina Hugo Caminos 1996 2011
Bulgaria Bulgaria Alexander Yankov 1996 2011
Belize Belize Edward Arthur Laing 1996 2001
Cameroon Cameroon Paul Bamela Engo 1996 2008
China China Guangjian Xu 2001 2007
China China Lihai Zhao 1996 2000
Croatia Croatia Budislav Vukas 1996 2005
Ghana Ghana Thomas A. Mensah 1996 2005
Iceland Iceland Gudmundur Eiriksson 1996 2002
Italy Italy Tullio Treves 1996 2011
Japan Japan Soji Yamamoto 1996 2005
South Korea South Korea Choon-Ho Park 1996 2008
Russia Russia Anatoly Lazarevich Kolodkin 1996 2008
Tanzania Tanzania Joseph Sinde Warioba 1996 2008
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Lennox Fitzroy Ballah 2002 2003
Tunisia Tunisia Mohamed Mouldi Marsit 1996 2005
United Kingdom United Kingdom David Heywood Anderson 1996 2005
Austria Austria Helmut Türk 2005 2014
Grenada Grenada L. Dolliver M. Nelson 1996 2014

Cases

  1. The M/V "Saiga" Case (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea) (1997)
  2. The M/V "Saiga" (No. 2) Case (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea) (1998)
  3. Southern Bluefin Tuna Case (New Zealand v. Japan) (1999)
  4. Southern Bluefin Tuna (No. 2) Case (Australia v. Japan) (1999)
  5. The "Camouco" Case (Panama v. France) (2000)
  6. The "Monte Confurco" Case (Seychelles v. France) (2000)
  7. Case concerning the Conservation and Sustainable Exploitation of Swordfish Stocks in the South-Eastern Pacific Ocean (Chile/European Union) (2009)
  8. The "Grand Prince" Case (Belize v. France) (2001)
  9. The "Chaisiri Reefer 2" Case (Panama v. Yemen) (2001)
  10. The MOX Plant Case (Ireland v. United Kingdom) (2001)
  11. The "Volga" Case (Russian Federation v. Australia) (2002)
  12. Case concerning Land Reclamation by Singapore in and around the Straits of Johor (Malaysia v. Singapore) (2003)
  13. The "Juno Trader" Case (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea-Bissau) (2004)
  14. The "Hoshinmaru" Case (Japan v. Russian Federation) (2007)
  15. The "Tomimaru" Case (Japan v. Russian Federation) (2007)
  16. Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal (Bangladesh/Myanmar) (2012)
  17. Responsibilities and obligations of States sponsoring persons and entities with respect to activities in the Area (advisory opinion from the Council of the International Seabed Authority) (2011)
  18. The M/V "Louisa" Case (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines v. Kingdom of Spain) (2013)
  19. The M/V "Virginia G" Case (Panama/Guinea-Bissau) (2014)
  20. The "ARA Libertad" Case (Argentina v. Ghana) (2012)
  21. Request for an advisory opinion submitted by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (advisory opinion from the Conference of Ministers of the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission) (2015)
  22. The "Arctic Sunrise" Case (Kingdom of the Netherlands v. Russian Federation) (2013)
  23. Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean (Ghana/Côte d'Ivoire) (ongoing)

External links

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

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