Workshop on Compulsory Dispute Settlement under the UNCLOS

In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), on Thursday 5th and Friday 6th of May, the Netherlands Institute on Law of the Sea (NILOS) and the Utrecht University Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law hosted the Workshop The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea at Forty: The Contribution of the Judiciary and Judicial Jurisdiction at the Museum Speelklok in Utrecht. The workshop consisted of five panels and a round table. Each panel consisted of several speakers, often an intersection with academics and practitioners (see the workshop program).

Each panel also included a Q & A session, which allowed panelists and participants alike to partake in an active discussion of the legal constraints and political considerations surrounding judicial jurisdiction, particularly related to the International Tribunal for Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and Annex VII tribunals. 

On Thursday the 5th, panels focused on: the judiciary and the development of the law of the sea; whose interests and what interests should be served by the judicial process?; and bargaining under the shadow of the Convention: International relations and legal perspectives. The first day session was closed with a round table discussion on the theme of Determining the bounds of judicial jurisdiction chaired by judge Lijnzaad of the ITLOS and participants with a background in both practice and academia. On Friday the 6th, the Workshop discussed issues of compulsory dispute settlement under the UNCLOS framework, as well as the future of dispute settlement mechanisms under that framework. 

The workshop provided an opportunity for people in different disciplines to spark a dialogue about the present state and future of dispute settlement mechanisms under the UNCLOS. The presentations at the workshop will provide the basis for articles that will be published in 2023 in a special issue of the International Journal of Maritime and Coastal Law.