Interview with: Judge José Luis Jesus

• Author: Michela van Rijn
• Pages: 70-74

Judge José Luis Jesus, born 20 September 1950, in Santo Antão, Cape Verde, has

been President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)

since October 2008. Merkourios inquired into the every-day functioning of this

relatively novel institution. In what way does the Tribunal contribute to the body

of sea law? And importantly, does another law of the sea tribunal add to the per-

ceived ‘fragmentation of international law’?

Michela van Rijn

Judge José Luis Jesus

‘e principle is

that all disputes are

dealt with by the

Tribunal as a full

court.’

Merkourios 2010 – Volume 27/Issue 72, Interview, pp. 70-74.

URN: NBN:NL:UI:10-1-100928

ISSN: 0927-460X

URL: www.merkourios.org

Publisher: Igitur, Utrecht Publishing & Archiving Services

Copyright: this work has been licensed by the Creative Commons Attribution License (3.0)

Interview

Judge José Luis Jesus, born 20 September 1950 in

Santo Antão, Cape Verde, has been President of

the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

(ITLOS) since October 2008. Merkourios inquired

into the every-day functioning of this relatively

novel institution. In what way does the Tribunal

contribute to the body of sea law? And importantly,

does another law of the sea tribunal add to the

perceived ‘fragmentation of international law’?

e majority of cases that the ITLOS has

been asked to address thus far have concerned

‘prompt-release cases’, meaning thata state party

to the UNCLOS hasseen t to detain a vessel

ying the ag of another state party, ostensibly,

for illegal sheries in the Exclusive Economic

Zone (EEZ) of the detaining state or illegal

dumping. e ITLOS is then asked todecide on

the reasonableness of the bondoered for release.

How does the ITLOS go about answering that

question?

In its case-law the Tribunal has developed several

criteria relating to prompt release of vessels and

crew for the determination of the reasonableness

of the bond which should be posted by or on

behalf of the ag state as a pre-requisite for the

release of vessels and crew. ese criteria include

inter alia the value of the vessel, the value of

the catch found onboard and the nes that are

imposable by the detaining state.

Do you agree with the proposition advanced in

legal literature that, because the judges of the

ITLOS rarely seem to disagree in determining that

the allegation of a breach of the United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) by

the detained state is ‘well-founded’, ‘prompt-release’

cases should, in the interest of (cost-) eciency, no

longer be heard by the entire bench but instead by a

chamber of two or three judges?

e principle is that all disputes are dealt with by

the Tribunal as a full court. at is what is stated

in paragraph 3 of Article 13 of the Tribunal’s

Statute which establishes that ‘[a]ll disputes and

applications submitted to the Tribunal shall be

Merkourios - Criminal Justice and Human Rights - Vol. 27/72 70