ITLOS: International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, with abbreviation ITLOS on AbbreviationFinder.org, English International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea [ ɪ ntə næ ʃ nl tr ɪ bju ː nl fər də l ɔ ː ɔ v də si ː ], abbreviation ITLOS [a ɪ ti ː el ə ʊ it], French tribunal international du droit de la mer [Triby nal εtεrnasj ɔ nal dy drwa də la mε ː r], abbreviation TIDM [teide İM], international permanent court that (based on the Law of the Sea Maritime Law) of December 10, 1982 (in force since November 16, 1994); Headquarters: Hamburg. The ICJ, which began its work in 1996, consists of 21 judges who are elected for nine years at a meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea convened by the Secretary General of the United Nations from a list submitted by the States Parties (each State Party may nominate two candidates) (Re-election possible). The judges were first elected on August 1, 1996. The court is open to the states party to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to the seabed authority in disputes relating to deep-sea miningas well as other non-governmental parties in accordance with Part XI of the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Furthermore, jurisdiction can be established by any other agreement between the parties to a particular proceeding. The ISGH, which passed its first judgment on December 4, 1997, resolves all disputes in accordance with the Convention on the Law of the Sea and with the general rules of international law, insofar as they are compatible with the Convention on the Law of the Sea. The ISGH has a quorum if eleven elected members are present. It forms a chamber for seabed disputes, which can also be asked for advice on abstract legal issues, as well as special chambers of three or more of its members if it deems this necessary to deal with certain types of disputes.
Law of the sea
Maritime law, the totality of the regulations of maritime legal relationships, in particular maritime shipping and use of the sea, traditionally differentiated into private maritime law and international maritime law; in addition, there is an increasing area of state administrative law (both overlapping).
The Seeprivatrecht comprises maritime law in a broad sense with freight and passenger transport (sea freight contract, bill of lading), ship use, ship collision recovery, accident, ship right maritime labor (Heuer ratio) and marine insurance. Legal sources in Germany are v. a. the 5th book of the HGB (§§ 476–905), the Maritime Labor Act of April 20, 2013, the Shipping Law of November 15, 1940, the General German Maritime Insurance Conditions (ADS) of 1919 (marine insurance) and, in particular, international agreements on maritime trade law and maritime labor law.
The subject of the competing federal legislation (Article 74 Number 21 of the Basic Law) is deep-sea and coastal shipping, navigation marks and sea waterways; Federal waterways and shipping are the subject of federal administration (Article 87 of the Basic Law). The central regulation is the Maritime Tasks Act (in the version of July 26, 2002), also the Flag Law Act (in the version of October 26, 1994, flag), the Ship Register Ordinance (in the version of May 26, 1994), the law on coastal shipping (in the version dated September 27, 1994) and the Maritime Traffic Regulations (in the version dated October 22, 1998). Important areas are regulated internationally, v. a. traffic regulation by the Convention of October 20, 1972 on the international rules for the prevention of collisions at sea (collision prevention rules, Maritime Traffic Regulations), ship safety through the Convention of November 1, 1974 for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and environmental protection through the Convention of November 2, 1973 for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).
The law of Austrian seagoing ships is regulated (in addition to numerous multilateral and international agreements) by the Maritime Shipping Act of March 19, 1981 in the version dated August 6, 2013. This contains in particular regulations regarding the licensing and operation of ships, suitability of the crew, promotion of Austrian shipping as well as criminal offenses to be punished by judicial (e.g. § 46 “piracy”) and administrative authorities.
The Maritime Law of 23 September 1953 applies to ships flying the Swiss flag. The only port of registry is Basel, only ships belonging to Swiss citizens or companies whose parties are exclusively Swiss citizens and of which at least three quarters live in Switzerland are registered.
The law of war at sea is traditionally outsourced to the international law of the sea. The law of the peace of the sea, custom until the 20th century, is now codified in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of December 10th, 1973 as a result of the third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1973-82) 1982 (in force since November 16, 1994). This confirms the principle of freedom of the sea (freedom of the seas, sea), but also standardizes the obligations of the states that use the sea for various purposes (shipping, fishing, mining of mineral resources on the seabed and the seabed, waste disposal, etc.) or that own parts of it as national territory (territorial waters). A maximum of 12 nautical miles has been set for the width of the coastal waters. The use of the straits for international navigation is regulated in Articles 34–45. Further special chapters concern the island states, the exclusive economic zone, the continental shelf (shelf), the inland seas, the rights of the landlocked states and v. a. environmental protection. The part concerned with this affirms the right of the sovereign states to use their natural resources, but obliges them to take measures to prevent, reduce and control marine pollution. It regulates international and regional intergovernmental cooperation for these purposes, technical assistance, the fulfillment of obligations under international law through domestic measures and international legal assistance. For disputes arising from the Convention on the Law of the Sea, there is the International Tribunal for the Sea in Hamburg.
