Welcoming Remarks

Abstract

It was followed by the conference "Pacem in Maribus 2000" in December 2000. This is the third seminar being held in this building. The Tribunal would gladly offer its facilities to similar seminars in the future; they will be of interest not only to us but also to the legal community as a whole.There are persons in this gathering who contributed in significant measure to the making of the Convention. It is not, therefore, necessary for me to trace the historical background of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The compulsory procedures entailing binding decisions under Part XV of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea include the Tribunal, the International Court of Justice, the arbitral tribunal under Annex VII, and the special arbitral tribunal under Annex VIII to the Convention.The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is unique in a number of respects. The General Assembly of the United Nations referred to the "important role and authority" of this Tribunal concerning the interpretation and application of the Convention. Why is this so? The reasons for this are set out in the Convention itself. The Tribunal is a standing court of twenty-one judges dealing exclusively with the law of the sea. The judges of the President, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.