3 The Netherlands And The International Tribunal For The Law Of The Sea How a State May Find Itself before the Tribunal against Its Will

Abstract

The Netherlands and the sea are intrinsically linked. It is relatively well known that the system provides for States to make a choice between four fora for dispute settlement: the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the International Court of Justice, an arbitral tribunal or a special arbitral tribunal. Before embarking on an in-depth discussion of the specific provisions conferring jurisdiction on the Tribunal, a few general observations on the dispute settlement provisions of the Convention must be made. The compulsory jurisdiction of the Tribunal with respect to the prompt release of vessels and crews is provided in Article 292 of the Convention. Prompt release proceedings and provisional measures may only be submitted to the Tribunal, failing agreement between the parties to the dispute to submit the request to another court or tribunal. Keywords: arbitral tribunal; compulsory jurisdiction; dispute settlement; International Court of Justice; ITLOS; Netherlands; prompt release proceedings