Our First Summer Academy
The first IFLOS Summer Academy at
the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea took place from
29 July to 26 August, 2007 and focused on the "Uses and Protection
of the Sea - Legal, Economic and Natural Science Perspectives". It
covered a variety of law of the sea, maritime law and related
topics and dealt extensively with five specific subjects of
interest,namely marine environmental protection, climate change and
the oceans, the resources of the continental shelf, oil pollution
and its consequences, and - last but not least - shipbuilding and
vessel-financing.
Class of
2007
The Foundation welcomed 33
participants of it's first Summer Academy - the Class
of 2007 - who came from 28 different countries from all five
continents. They had been carefully chosen from almost 70
applicants. Two of the participants have written down their own
experiences, namely Dugyu Damar and Hussain Makhlooq.
Schedule &
Faculty
During the four weeks of the
programme, the participants had the
opportunity to listen to 30 renowned lecturers who travelled to Hamburg from
many different corners of the world to share their expertise and
experience with the participants. These lecturers came from many
different professions, among them Judges of the Tribunal (President
Wolfrum, Judge Cot and former ITLOS Judge and President Mensah),
legal and economic experts, natural scientists, and experienced
practitioners in maritime affairs.
The participants took also part in a
workshop on maritime delimitation where they could actively take
part in the solution of practical problems, a visit to the
laboratory of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in
Sülldorf and a visit to the Max Planck Institute for Comparative
and International Private Law in Hamburg.
The Tribunal in
Action
One of the highlights of this first
Summer Academy was certainly the opportunity to attend the reading
of the judgments rendered in the Cases No. 14 (The
"Hoshinmaru" Case) and No. 15 (The "Tomimaru"
Case) of the Tribunal on 6 August 2007. President Wolfrum and
Judges Treves and Ndiaye kindly gave a short introduction into
these two prompt release cases, drawing the attention of the
participants to the special legal issues involved.
Open Events - Guest
Lectures
The participants had the privilege
of listening to two distinguished guest lecturers delivering speeches in the
courtroom of the Tribunal, namely the Secretary-General of the
International Seabed Authority, Mr Satya Nandan, who spoke on the
very interesting subject "Deep seabed mining - when will it start?", and
Dr. Agustin Blanco-Bazán, Senior Deputy Director of the IMO, who
provided the audience with an answer to the somewhat provocative
question "Freedom of Navigation - an outdated
concept?".
Moot Court
Furthermore, four teams took part in
the Moot Court Competition on the "Oryx Case" held in the
Court Room of the Tribunal and gave an impressive performance.
Although there was not much time to prepare the memorials and the
hearings, the participants came up with well-prepared arguments and
sharp answers to the questions put to them by the moot court bench
consisting of Judge José Luis Jesus from the Tribunal, Prof. Dr.
Rainer Lagoni, Mr Hartmut von Brevern and Prof. Dr. Doris
König.
Resolution
A group of 15 participants,
supported by Prof. Dr. Peter Ehlers, drafted a Final Resolution on
the results of the Summer Academy in English and French, highlighting the achievements of
the first Summer Academy and giving valuable proposals for possible
future improvements.
Extra-curricular
activities
Although the schedule was tight,
there was some time reserved for extra-curricular activities. The
participants had the opportunity to do some sight-seeing in Hamburg
and its vicinity, they enjoyed a very informative bus tour around
the harbour, they walked through the narrow streets of the
beautiful medieval city of Lübeck and made a stop at the beach of
Timmendorfer Strand. The group was also taken on a week-end tour to
the nice little town of Husum and to St. Peter-Ording on the North
sea coast and were invited to a boat trip on the river Elbe in the
Vierlande region. Furthermore, the participants visited the Aker
Ship-building yard and the Hanseatic City of Wismar where the mayor
held a reception for them.
The foundations for an
Alumni Network
Although the participants came from
very diverse legal and cultural backgrounds they got along with
each other very well and formed a wonderful, very active and
interested group. With their help, the Foundation will try to keep
track of all of them and establish an alumni group which will
hopefully meet again one day in Hamburg. The feedback given by the
participants was in every sense overwhelmingly positive, especially
concerning the consistence of the group and the quality of the
lectures delivered.
Senate
Reception
At the close of the Summer Academy,
the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg also held an
impressive reception in the Town Hall where the participants
received their certificates.
Acknowledgements
It is important to mention the
sponsors without whose generosity and support this fist IFLOS
Summer Academy would not have been possible: the Edmund
Siemers-Stiftung which supported the housing at the Europa-Kolleg,
the Zeit-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, the Lighthouse
Foundation, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and
the Nippon-Foundation, both of which provided scholarships, the
Reederei Leonhardt & Blumberg, one of Hamburg's ship
owning companies, the Federal Ministry of Justice, and the Senate
of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
Finally, the Foundation would like
to wholeheartedly thank President Wolfrum, the Registrar Mr.
Gautier, the Deputy-Registrar Mr. Kim and all the staff members of
the Tribunal who have supported the team of the Foundation so well
before and during the course of the Summer Academy.
∞
After the Summer
Academy is before the Summer Academy.