Intergovernmental organization
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Tribunal international du droit de la mer
(
French
)
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Seat
| Hamburg
,
Germany
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Working languages
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Judges from
| 21 nations
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? President
| Judge Albert Hoffmann
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? Vice President
| Judge Tomas Heidar
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| 10 December 1982
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? UNCLOS in force
| 16 November 1994
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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]
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
[update]
, holdouts included the
United States
[3]
and
Iran
.
[4]
Composition
[
edit
]
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)
.
[
citation needed
]
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 Cote d'Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean (Ghana/Cote d'Ivoire)
.
[
citation needed
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
Former judges
[
edit
]
Cases
[
edit
]
- ^
The European Union replaced and succeeded the
European Community
as a party to the case on 1 December 2009.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
53°33′04″N
9°51′03″E
/
53.55111°N 9.85083°E
/
53.55111; 9.85083
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