12-16 September 2022: CIL Director Dr Nilüfer Oral Was Invited to Speak at the ITLOS Workshop for Legal Advisors in Hamburg

On 11 September 2022, Judge Albert Hoffmann, President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), opened the inaugural ITLOS Workshop for Legal Advisers (sponsored by the Republic of Korea) on the premises of the Tribunal in Hamburg.

The workshop, which took place from 11 to 16 September 2022 and was designed for legal advisers from South-East Asia and Pacific Small Island Developing States, including participants from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam. The ITLOS Legal Advisers workshop series is now part of the Tribunal’s capacity-building programmes aimed at promoting and disseminating knowledge about the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and in particular the dispute settlement procedures enshrined in its Part XV.

In his opening statement, President Hoffmann noted that the Tribunal has an important role to play in resolving differences and preventing conflicts from escalating and that its jurisprudence has constantly promoted the rule of law and has contributed to developing and upholding the rule of law in the oceans. He stated that “[w]hile the 2 Tribunal’s core function is to adjudicate disputes relating to the law of the sea, it is also strongly committed to capacity-building. Since its very inception, the Tribunal has developed capacity-building programmes with a view to the training of future generations of law of the sea experts, including government officials, students and researchers.”

In his statement, Mr Zha Hyoung Rhee, Director-General for International Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, stressed that “it is in the interest of every State to keep the ocean regime effective and working. In this context, we cannot put enough emphasis on the role of the dispute settlement system of UNCLOS, including ITLOS. We have much to gain by familiarizing ourselves with the procedures and practices of the Tribunal. And that, I believe, is the understanding underlying this workshop.”

The workshop programme consisted of sessions dedicated to procedural and substantive issues, including the role of the Tribunal in settling law of the sea disputes, an overview of proceedings before the Tribunal, maritime delimitation and issues concerning the continental shelf, marine environment, fisheries and navigation.

The workshop closed with a round-table discussion on new challenges in the law of the sea. Presentations were given by President Hoffmann, Vice-President Heidar, Judges Yanai, Paik, Chadha, Kittichaisaree and Duan, and Registrar Hinrichs Oyarce. External lecturers, namely, Professors Erik Franckx, James Harrison, Ronán Long, Alina Miron, Nilufer Oral, Alex Oude Elferink and Alexander Proelss, Mr Stephen Fietta and Ambassador Rena Lee, also gave presentations during the course of the workshop.