Document search
Resources
  1. Home
  2. Resources
  3. Publications

Publications

In addition to the Basic Texts, the Tribunal publishes a Yearbook on an annual basis and case-related publications as needed. These volumes are published by and available from Brill Nijhoff. The Yearbooks (since 2010), the Reports (since 2011), the Pleadings (since 2012) as well as the Basic Texts 2015 are also available as e-books.

The electronic versions of the texts of the series Reports of Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders and Pleadings, Minutes of Public Sittings and Documents reproduced on this website are subject to copyright. They may not be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or used for any commercial purposes without prior written permission from the Registrar of the Tribunal. Authorization to do so should be requested from the Registrar's Office.

The electronic version of the Tribunal’s publications is provided as a courtesy. The printed version of the Tribunal’s publications is the official version and shall govern any discrepancies between the two.

Complete list of ITLOS publications

The first edition of the Basic Texts was published in 1998. A second edition with an index appeared in 2005, a third in 2015. This volume contains a selection of documents that are basic to the work of the Tribunal, in parallel presentation in English and French. It reproduces the following documents: 

  • the Statute of the Tribunal; 
  • the Rules of the Tribunal as amended; 
  • the Resolution on the internal judicial practice; 
  • the Guidelines concerning the preparation and presentation of cases; 
  • the Guidelines concerning the posting of a bond or other financial security with the Registrar;
  • the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; 
  • Excerpts from the Annexes of the Final Act of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea
  • the Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted on 28 July 1994; 
  • the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the Tribunal;
  • the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation on the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.

In addition it contains an index to the documents published, in English and French.

This bilingual (English and French) series of annual publications reproduces the texts of the Tribunal's decisions. The series started with ITLOS Reports 1997.

Abbreviated reference: ITLOS Reports, with an indication of the year covered by the volume, e.g., ITLOS Reports 1998.

This series of publications reproduces the pleadings in cases before the Tribunal as well as the minutes of the hearings and other relevant documents. The documents are reproduced only in the official language(s) of the Tribunal in which they were submitted to the Tribunal. The series started with ITLOS Pleadings, Minutes and Documents 1997, M/V "SAIGA" (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea), Prompt Release.

Abbreviated reference: ITLOS Pleadings, Minutes and Documents, with an indication of the year, the volume and the abbreviated title of the case, e.g., ITLOS Pleadings, Minutes and Documents 1998, Vol. 2, M/V "SAIGA" (No. 2) (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea), Provisional Measures.

The Yearbook gives an account of the work of the Tribunal during the relevant calendar year. It presents information about the judges and the organization, jurisdiction, procedure, practice, finances and privileges and immunities of the Tribunal. A select bibliography of articles and books on the settlement of law of the sea disputes is also included.

The Yearbook started with the ITLOS Yearbook 1996-1997. Unlike subsequent yearbooks, the first volume covered a period of 17 months, from 1 August 1996 to 31 December 1997, and dealt with the preparatory work that preceded the constitution of the Tribunal on 1 October 1996.

Volumes 1 to 11 were published separately in English and French. The twelfth volume in the series was the first bilingual volume. 

Abbreviated reference (vol. 1 to 11): ITLOS Yearbook, with an indication of the year covered by the volume, e.g., ITLOS Yearbook 1998.

Abbreviated reference (from vol. 12): ITLOS Yearbook - TIDM Annuaire, with an indication of the year covered by the volume, e.g., ITLOS Yearbook - TIDM Annuaire 2008.

On the occasion of its 20th Anniversary, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea held a one-and-a-half day international symposium at the premises of the Tribunal on 5 and 6 October 2016, on the theme “The contribution of the Tribunal to the Rule of Law”.

The aim of the symposium was to highlight the role played by the Tribunal over the last 20 years in the system for the peaceful settlement of law of the sea related disputes, set out in Part XV of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Approximately 180 international guest attended the symposium, which was designed for academics and legal practitioners. The symposium was organized with the financial support of the Government of Japan. This publication reproduces the statements presented during the symposium, in the order in which they were delivered and in their original language. The question and answer sessions have not been transcribed for this volume.

The contribution of the Tribunal to the Rule of Law

This volume was financed by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.