VLADIMIR GOLITSYN

JUDGE VLADIMIR GOLITSYN - was elected President of the International Tribunal for the Law on the Sea on the 1st of October 2014 for a three-year term. The GOC will benefit hugely from Vladimir's experience; a major asset to the group.

Vladimir was Head of the Division of Public International Law in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the former USSR and served as head or member of delegations at various negotiations on fisheries, navigation and maritime boundary matters, as well as the Arctic and Antarctica. In 2007, he acted as Chief Legal Counsel for the Russian Federation in two prompt release cases brought by Japan before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

At the United Nations, he worked in the Office of the Legal Counsel and as Director of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.

Judge Golitsyn is Vice-President of the Russian Association of Maritime Law and Professor of international law at Moscow State University and Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He completed his PhD on the legal regime of the Antarctic and is the author of three books and numerous articles on international law, Antarctica, the law of the sea and environmental law.

THE MOSCOW TIMES, OCT 2014

A Russian lawyer has been elected the new president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, a global body that caused some controversy in Russia last year following Moscow's seizure of a Greenpeace icebreaker.

Vladimir Golitsyn, 67, was elected president on Wednesday after 21 tribunal members cast votes in a secret ballot and he has since begun his three-year term in office, according to a statement on the court's website.

The lawyer — a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations — previously worked for the Soviet Foreign Ministry as well as the United Nations, and has been a member of the tribunal since 2008.

РЕКЛАМА

Golitsyn, who also moonlights as a law professor, specializes in seabed and continental shelf disputes, environmental issues and the Arctic, according to his bio on the tribunal's site.

Arctic issues came under the court's spotlight last year when Russia seized Greenpeace's flagship vessel, the Arctic Sunrise, after it was used to stage a protest at an oil rig inside Russia's exclusive economic zone.

The ship's crew and activists were charged with piracy and later hooliganism, but were later released under a presidential amnesty following a stint in Russian custody. Russia also seized the Arctic Sunrise — which was sailing under a Dutch flag — before returning it to Greenpeace several months later.

The Netherlands took the dispute to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which ordered Russia to release the Greenpeace ship.

But the ruling was rejected by the Kremlin and opposed at the time by Golitsyn, one of the two tribunal members to voice a dissenting opinion, though that did not prevent him from clutching the tribunal's presidency this week.

The UN-endorsed, Hamburg-based tribunal is considered the world's top judiciary body for maritime disputes, tasked with overseeing the enforcement of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. It has reviewed only 22 cases since its inception in 1996.

Judge Golitsyn was born in Moscow, The Russian Federation, on the 27th of February 1947. He has been a member of the Tribunal since 1 October 2008; President of the Tribunal since 1 October 2014; and was President of the Seabed Disputes Chamber between 2011-2014.

EDUCATION: Red Diploma, International Affairs (with honours), Moscow State Institute of International Relations (1970); Candidate of Juridical Sciences, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (1975); Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988).

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Lecturer on international law, Law, Diplomatic and Economic Faculties, Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations (1975–1981); Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former USSR: Legal Expert, Legal and Treaty Department (1975–1979), Member of the Inter-Agency Working Group of the Supreme Soviet responsible for the preparation of draft laws on territorial sea and fishery zone (1976–1980), Head, Division of Public International Law, Legal and Treaty Department (1979–1982), Member of the Inter-Agency Working Group of the Council of Ministers on the Arctic and Spitsbergen (1979–1982), leader or member of the USSR delegations at various conferences and meetings; United Nations, New York: Legal Officer, Office of the Legal Counsel (1982–1986), Acting Secretary of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country (1983), Secretary of the Committee on Applications for Review of the Administrative Tribunal Judgments (1985–1996), Senior Legal Officer, Office of the Legal Counsel (1986–1997), Secretary, Plenary of the Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (1987–1994), Liaison officer at UNHQ for the International Court of Justice (1995–2004), Principal Legal Officer, Office of the Legal Counsel (1997–2003), Director, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (2004–2007), representative of the United Nations at the 92nd and 97th sessions of the Council of IMO, at the 26th session of the Committee on Fisheries of FAO and at the Fourth Meeting of Regional Fisheries Organizations (Rome, March 2005); Chief Legal Counsel of the delegation of the Russian Federation in two prompt release cases before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (2007); Professor (2007–2011) and Visiting Professor (2012) of International Law, Moscow State University of International Relations; lecturer, Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy (2009–present); lecturer, IFLOS Summer Academy (2009–present); Speaker: The Fifth Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands (Paris, May 2010), The Third Aspen Environment Forum (Aspen, USA, July 2010), The 74th Conference of the International Law Association (The Hague, August 2010), Law of the Sea Institute Conference “Institutions and Regions in Ocean Governance” (Hamburg, October 2010), International Conference in Memory of Professor Tunkin (Moscow, November 2010); International Conference on “Arctic Science, International Law and Climate Change” (Berlin, March 2011); 1st Conference on “The Use of the Oceans’ Energy Resources, Risk Management, and the Need for Regulation” (Hamburg, June 2011); International Symposium on “Safety, Security and Environmental Protection of Straits Used in International Navigation: Is International Law Meeting the Challenge?” (Istanbul, September 2011); UNITAR Training Course for young specialists from the Commonwealth of Independent States (Moscow, April 2012); Seventh Annual International Conference on “Securing the Oceans for the Next Generation” (Seoul, May 2012); Second EU-USA Conference Series on “Sustainable Oceans: Developing a new International Architecture for Maritime Policy” (New York, July 2012); Seminar on “International Cooperation in the Protection of Environment, Preservation and Rational Use of Biological Resources in the Arctic Ocean” (Moscow, September 2012); Round-Table Panel Discussion on “Current Issues Regarding the Delimitation of the Outer Continental Shelf” (Hamburg, September 2012); Presentation “The mandate and work of the Seabed Disputes Chamber”, 3rd International Symposium on Technical Aspects of the Extended Continental Shelf and the Area (Beijing, November 2012); Professor of International Law, Moscow State University (2012); Visiting Professor of International Law, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University) (2012); Lectures on “Legal Regime of the Arctic and Antarctic – Environmental Aspects”, UNITAR Training Course for young specialists from the Commonwealth of Independent States (Moscow, April 2013); Presentation “How Effective is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea? Gaps in Law and Gaps in Applying the Law”, EU-USA Conference Series on “Sustainable Oceans: Reconciling Economic Use and Protection of Environment” (Cascais, Portugal, June 2013); Presentation “Human Rights and Environmental Law”, Annual International Conference (Moscow, October 2013).

HYDRO INTERNATIONAL - UN FIRST ADDRESS ON TRIBUNAL'S ROLE 12/12/2014 - Judge Vladimir Golitsyn, president of the Tribunal of the Law of the Sea, addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on Tuesday, 9 December 2014, during the Assembly’s annual debate on “Oceans and the Law of the Sea”.

Speaking first on organizational matters, President Golitsyn informed the General Assembly that two new judges, Judges Gómez-Robledo (Mexico) and Heidar (Iceland), had been elected to the Tribunal at the Meeting of States Parties held in June 2014, and that five former judges had been reelected. He also recalled that, on 1 October 2014, he had been elected by the judges of the Tribunal as president and Judge Bouguetaia (Algeria) as vice-president of the Tribunal, and Judge Jesus (Cabo Verde) as President of the Seabed Disputes Chamber.

Turning to an important role of the Tribunal in the dispute settlement system under the Convention, President Golitsyn expressed his appreciation for the continued efforts made by the General Assembly to encourage States to make declarations under article 287 of the Convention with a view to choosing the means of the settlement of disputes set out in that article of the Convention. He emphasized that States may at any time agree to submit their dispute to their preferred dispute settlement body, even in the absence of a declaration under article 287, and noted that Panama and Guinea-Bissau had done just that in the latest case to be decided by the Tribunal, the M/V Virginia G Case (Panama/Guinea-Bissau), president Golitsyn gave a brief overview of the role played by the Tribunal in exercising its contentious jurisdiction and adjudicating cases to contribute to the development of international law and, in particular, the international law of the sea.

He highlighted various cases in which the Tribunal has made such important contributions, for example in the delimitation case between Bangladesh and Myanmar, where the Tribunal was called upon to rule on the delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

He also referred to the M/V Virginia G Case, in which the Tribunal delivered its Judgment in April 2014, highlighting two important issues addressed by the Tribunal: the meaning of the requirement under the Convention of a genuine link between a flag State and a ship flying its flag and the legality under the Convention of national legislation regulating bunkering activities in support of foreign fishing vessels in the EEZ.

President Golitsyn pointed out that the Tribunal’s jurisdiction is not limited to contentious cases. He noted in this regard that a Request for an Advisory Opinion regarding IUU fishing activities had been submitted to the Tribunal by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission, an intergovernmental organization comprising seven West African States, in March 2013 and that the proceedings in the case had attracted considerable interest from States and intergovernmental organizations. He informed the General Assembly that the advisory opinion would probably be delivered in the spring of 2015.

In concluding, President Golitsyn emphasized the Tribunal’s commitment to the advancement of the idea of peaceful dispute settlement not only through its contentious and advisory functions but also through disseminating information and conducting capacity-building programmes, for example through the Tribunal’s regional workshops, the latest of which had been held in Nairobi in August 2014, in conjunction with the Government of Kenya and the Korea Maritime Institute, the ITLOS/Nippon Foundation training programme for young government officials and researchers, the Tribunal’s internship programme for students and the annual Summer Academy of the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea.

MEMBER: Soviet Association of International Law (1975–1982); Soviet Association of Maritime Law (1975–1982); American Society of International Law (1991–2005); Canadian Council of International Law (1989–1991); Steering Committee of the Global Forum on Oceans (2004–present); Global Forum Working Group on Governance of Marine Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (2006–present); Russian Association of International Law (Russian branch of the International Law Association) (2007–present); Russian Association of International Maritime Law (2007–present, Vice-President 2009–present); Arctic Council of the World Economic Forum (2012); Global Ocean Commission (2013).

PUBLICATIONS: Author of three books and more than 30 articles on international law, Antarctica, the law of the sea and environmental law, including: “Free zones and land-locked States” (in Russian), Maritime Law and Practice No. 34 (303) (Morskoe pravo y practica), 1975; “Land-locked States and the question of limits of jurisdiction of coastal States”(in Russian), Materials on Maritime Law and International Trade Navigation (Materialy po Morscomu Pravu y Mesdunarodnomu Torgovomu Moreplavaniu), Transport No. 8, 1976; “Antarctica – area of peaceful cooperation (in Russian), Soviet State and International Maritime Law, Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Science (Sbornik “Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo y Provo” Institut Gosudarstva y Prava Akademii Nauk), Moscow, March 1977; “Land-locked States and International Law of the Sea”, International Affairs, 1978; “Questions of interpretation of the Antarctic Treaty”, Soviet State and Law, No. 8, 1978; “International legal regulation of conservation and rational use of Antarctic marine living resources” (in Russian), International Fisheries (Mezdunarodnoye rybolovstvo), International law issues, No. 12, 1980; “Antarctica –international legal regime”, International Affairs, 1983; “Antarctica – Tendencies of Development of international regime”, International Affairs, 1989; Interrelation of the Institutions under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea with other Institutions, Kluwer Law International, 1998; “Commentaries on articles 4–8 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice” (together with P. Georget and R. Zacklin); A Commentary. The Statute of the International Court of Justice, A. Zimmermann, Ch. Tomuschat and K. Oellers-Frahm (eds), 2006; “Work of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf”, International Symposium on Scientific and Technical Aspects of the Establishment of the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf beyond 200 Nautical Miles, Proceedings, Tokyo, 2006; “Legal Aspects of Exploitation and Conservation of Resources of the Seabed Area and Subsoil”, International Workshop on Resources of the Seabed Area and Subsoil, Legal, Scientific and Economic Aspects of its Exploitation and Conservation, Proceedings, Buenos Aires, 2006; “Continental Shelf Claims in the Arctic Ocean: A Commentary”, The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law 24, 2009; “Major Challenges of Globalization for Seas and Oceans: Legal Aspects”, Law, Technology and Science for Oceans in Globalization (Martinus Nijhoff/Brill), 2010; “Climate Change, Marine Science and Delineation of the Continental Shelf”, Beiträge zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht, vol. 235, S. Wasum-Rainer et al. (eds.), 2012; A Commentary. The Statute of the International Court of Justice, A. Zimmermann, Ch. Tomuschat, K. Oellers-Frahm and Ch. Tams (eds), 2nd ed., 2012; “Prompt Release Procedure in Cases of Marine Pollution”, International Law of the Sea, Essays in Memory of Anatoly L. Kolodkin, Statut, Moscow, 2013.

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is an intergovernmental organization created by the mandate of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. It was established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed at Montego Bay, Jamaica, on December 10, 1982. The Convention entered into force on November 16, 1994, and established an international framework for law over "all ocean space, its uses and resources". The tribunal is based in Hamburg, Germany. The Convention also established the International Seabed Authority, with responsibility for the regulation of seabed mining beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, that is beyond the limits of the territorial sea, the contiguous zone and the continental shelf.

The Tribunal has the power to settle disputes between party states. There are currently 160 states, plus the European Union.

The Registrar
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Am Internationalen Seegerichtshof 1
22609 Hamburg
Germany

Tel.: (49) 40 35607-0
Fax: (49) 40 35607-275
General Email: itlos@itlos.org
Press: press@itlos.org

INTERNATIONAL LAW OF SEA - [ABOVE] A map of the world showing the location of member states with Judges in the ITLOS in dark blue, states formerly with judges in dark green and other UNCLOS parties in Light Green. [BELOW] A map of the world showing UNCLOS parties in green, parties represented by the European Union in blue, signatories in yellow and non-parties in red. It is noteworthy that the US is absent on both maps (not a member state), setting an extremely bad example to the rest of the world - clearly not taking ocean issues seriously - although they are a major polluter - especially when it comes to oil spills. They are talking the walk, but not walking the talk. They are though, building yet more nuclear powered warships.

INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE LAW OF THE SEA, 8 JUNE 2015 - The President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Judge Vladimir Golitsyn, addressed the 25th Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to present the annual report of the Tribunal.

President Golitsyn informed the delegates about the first advisory opinion of
the Tribunal, delivered at the request of the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission
(SRFC), consisting of seven West African States, and concerning illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing) activities in the exclusive economic zones of SRFC Member States. He noted that the opinion clarified several matters regarding the obligations and liability of both flag States and international organizations in relation to IUU fishing in the exclusive economic zones of SRFC Member States. In its opinion, the Tribunal also addressed the issue of the rights and obligations of the SRFC Member States in managing certain fish stocks. He noted that it is expected that the answers provided by the Tribunal in its Advisory Opinion will assist the SRFC in carrying out its activities and pursuing its efforts to combat IUU fishing.


Carol Browner	Victor Chu	Obiageli Ezekwesili	Luiz Furlan	Vladimir Golitsyn	Robert Hill	Yoriko Kawaguchi
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Pascal Lamy	Paul Martin	Sri Mulyani Indrawati	Cristina Narbona	Ratan Tata	Foua Toloa	Andrés Velasco