ITLOS appoints 3 members of UN tribunal

MANILA, Philippines - The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has appointed the remaining three members of the five-member United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Arbitral Tribunal that will hear the Statement of Claim filed by the Philippines against China on the West Philippine Sea.

Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, head of the Philippine legal team, informed yesterday the Department of Foreign Affairs of the appointment of Jean-Pierre Cot of France, Chris Pinto of Sri Lanka, and Alfred Soons of the Netherlands as members of the tribunal.

Pinto was named head/president of the team. 

The other members are Rudiger Wolfrum of Germany and Judge Stanislaw Pawlak of Poland, both ITLOS judges.

Wolfrum was nominated by the Philippines in its Notification and Statement of Claims last Jan. 22.

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said the tribunal would organize itself and establish its own rules and procedures.

Hernandez said the tribunal would then establish whether they have jurisdiction to hear the case.

“There will be proper hearing on the case,” he said in a press briefing.

“That means the case is moving and as expected, we are hoping that the case we filed with the tribunal will proceed soon,” Hernandez said.

He said the Philippines is confident that the tribunal would award the country’s maritime entitlement in the West Philippine Sea and declare the nine-dash line claim of China not valid as far as the international law of the UNCLOS (is concerned),” Hernandez said.

The Philippines has resorted to the rule of law by initiating arbitral proceedings under the 1982 UNCLOS to clarify the country’s maritime entitlements in the West Philippine Sea.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the Philippines’ recourse to arbitration is firmly rooted in the tradition of good global citizenship. 

Del Rosario stressed that the Philippine arbitral initiative, when objectively considered, would benefit all parties.