Calendar of Events 2023

We welcome applications for the 2023-2024 programme

Election to fill the places of seven members of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea whose terms of office expire on 30 September 2023 - List of candidates nominated by States parties

The Tribunal's first newsletter for 2023 is now available.

The Special Chamber delivered its Judgment on 28 April 2023.

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea will participate in the Long Night of the Consulates on Tuesday, 9 May 2023. On that day, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., the general public will have the opportunity to visit the headquarters building in Hamburg (Nienstedten) and learn about the work of the Tribunal.

By Order of 19 May 2023, the President of the Special Chamber, Judge Albert Hoffmann, fixed the following time-limits for the filing of the Memorial and Counter Memorial:

20 November 2023 for the Memorial of the Marshall Islands; and

20 May 2024 for the Counter-Memorial of Equatorial Guinea

On 1 June 2023, Judge Albert Hoffmann, President of the Tribunal, opened the sixteenth regional workshop dedicated to “The Role of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in the Settlement of Disputes relating to the Law of the Sea”.

On 12 June 2023, Judge Albert Hoffmann, President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, presented the Tribunal’s annual report to the thirty-third Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In his statement, President Hoffmann provided information on the Tribunal’s judicial work, organizational matters and capacity-building, and remarked on current developments relevant to the work of the Tribunal.

Seven Members of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea were elected on 14 June 2023 at the thirty-third Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, currently ongoing at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Judge Albert Hoffmann, President of the Tribunal, opened the second ITLOS Workshop for Legal Advisers (sponsored by the Republic of Korea) on 2 July 2023, welcoming participants from Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe to the Tribunal. The workshop, which is taking place on the premises of the Tribunal from 2 to 7 July 2023, has been designed for legal advisers of African States.

The public hearing concluded on 25 September 2023. The Tribunal will now deliberate on the case.

At a public ceremony held this morning, Ms Frida María Armas Pfirter (Argentina), Mr Hidehisa Horinouchi (Japan), Mr Thembile Elphus Joyini (South Africa), Mr Osman Keh Kamara (Sierra Leone), Mr Konrad Jan Marciniak (Poland) and Mr Zha Hyoung Rhee (Republic of Korea) were sworn in as members of the Tribunal. The six judges were elected at the thirty-third Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to serve a term of nine years, commencing on 1 October 2023.

Judge Heidar (Iceland) was elected today by the members of the Tribunal as President and Judge Chadha (India) as Vice-President for the period 2023–2026. The election took place during the fifty-sixth administrative session of the Tribunal.

On 4 October 2023, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea reconstituted its chambers during its fifty-sixth administrative session which is currently being held in Hamburg.

By Order of 16 November 2023, the President of the Special Chamber, Judge Albert Hoffmann, has extended the time-limit for the submission of the Memorial of the Marshall Islands to 18 December 2023.

Judge Tomas Heidar, President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, addressed the plenary of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly yesterday during its consideration of agenda item 75(a) “Oceans and the law of the sea”.

The Tribunal's second newsletter for 2023 is now available.