AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE LAW OF THE SEA

as adopted by the Tribunal on 25 September 2018

The Tribunal,

Acting pursuant to article 16 of the Statute of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Annex VI to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,

Adopts the following amendments to the Rules of the Tribunal of 28 October 1997 (as amended on 15 March and 21 September 2001 and on 17 March 2009):

(i) Article 60, paragraph 2, shall be amended to read as follows:

“The Tribunal may authorize or direct that there shall be a reply by the applicant and a rejoinder by the respondent if the parties are so agreed or if the Tribunal decides, at the request of a party or proprio motu, that these pleadings are necessary.

If the Tribunal is not sitting, its powers under this article may be exercised by the President of the Tribunal, but without prejudice to any subsequent decision of the Tribunal.”

(ii) Article 61, paragraph 3, shall be amended to read as follows:

“The Tribunal shall not authorize the presentation of replies and rejoinders unless it finds them to be necessary. If the Tribunal is not sitting, its powers under this article may be exercised by the President of the Tribunal, but without prejudice to any subsequent decision of the Tribunal.”

Decides that these amendments enter into force forthwith.

Done in English and in French, both texts being authoritative, in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, this twenty-fifth day of September, two thousand and eighteen.

(signed) JIN-HYUN PAIK,
President

(signed) PHILIPPE GAUTIER,
Registrar