Event Information
Tuesday, June 26 2007
Washington, DC, USA

Presented by Philippe Gautier, registrar, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and sponsored by the American Society of International Law (ASIL).

On May 15, 2007, one month prior to the Seventeenth Meeting of State Parties (which presently number 153) to the Convention on the Law of the Sea at United Nations Headquarters in New York, President George W. Bush “urge[d] the Senate to act favorably on U.S. accession to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea during this session of Congress." The prospect of the U.S. acceding to the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention comes after several decades of consideration. While both political parties and virtually all constituencies have broadly supported the Convention since at least 1994, the Convention did not receive the advice and consent of the Senate in that decade, an unprecedented event in the history of U.S. treaty practice for such a widely supported agreement. 

The United Nations Law of the Sea Convention was signed in Jamaica on December 10, 1982 and entered into force on November 16, 1994.  The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, located in Hamburg, is an independent judicial body established by the Convention to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the Convention.  The Tribunal is composed of 21 independent members, elected from among persons enjoying the highest reputation for fairness and integrity and of recognized competence in the field of the law of the sea. 

Mr. Philippe Gautier is a Belgian national that was elected to the Tribunal in June 2001. Prior to his election as Registrar, Mr. Gautier served as the Deputy Registrar of the Tribunal from 1997 to 2001. He began his career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium (1984-1997) where he served as Head of the Treaties Division (1995-1997) and as Head of the Law of the Sea Office (1991-1995).

To listen to an audio recording of the presentation, click here.