Our third Summer Academy
The third IFLOS Summer
Academy at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea took
place from 26 July to 23 August, 2009 and focused once again on the
"Uses and Protection of the Sea - Legal, Economic and Natural
Science Perspectives".
Participants
The Foundation welcomed
participants from 22 different countries. Five of these were
selected by the Tribunal within the framework of the Nippon
Program; 22 were chosen by the Foundation in close cooperation with
the Tribunal. Although there were less applications than in the
previous years, the Foundation took note of an even higher degree
of academic qualification and professional achievements amongst the
applicants. The Foundation's sponsors (Edmund Siemers-Stiftung,
Federal Ministry of Justice, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,
KOICA Korean International Cooperation Agency, Leonhardt &
Blumberg, Lighthouse Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd
Bucerius) made it possible to award 14 scholarships. Given the
fact that The Nippon Foundation enabled 5 other participants
to take part in the course, 19 young academicians from developing
countries, i.e. 2/3 of all participants, attended the Academy
under scholarships.
Schedule
As its predecessors, the 2009
Academy covered a variety of Law of the Sea, Maritime Law and
related topics and dealt extensively with specific subjects of
interest such as marine environmental protection, climate change
and the oceans, oil pollution and its consequences, and
ship-building and vessel-financing. As before, a visit to the Max
Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in
Hamburg was part of the programme.
Based on the experience from 2
previous Summer Academies, certain areas of the course were
strengthened, in particular
- Continental Shelf, where the legal aspects and
UNCLOS provisions were accompanied by the political and technical
aspects of submissions in the light of the May 2009 deadline;
- Fisheries with additional lectures about, e.g.,
IUU Fisheries and
- Maritime Delimitation, where the traditional
practical workshop with a prelude of mineral and petroleum
resources topics was followed by the legal and political
solutions.
Thus, the schedule moved towards
distinguishable blocks and the Foundation intends to pursue that
direction. A copy of the Schedule is attached.
Faculty
During the four weeks of the
program, the participants had the opportunity to meet an impressive
faculty composed of over 30 renowned personalities who travelled to
Hamburg from many different corners of the world to share their
expertise and experience with the participants.
The Foundation is especially
grateful for the invaluable contributions by the members of the
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. With 7 judges
(President José Louis Jesus, Vice President Helmut Türk, Judges
Rüdiger Wolfrum, Tullio Treves, Tafsir Ndiaye, James Kateka and
Vladimir Golitsyn) and the Registrar Philippe Gautier, the
Foundation could proudly record the highest ever participation of
representatives from the Tribunal. Unfortunately, former President
Thomas A. Mensah had to cancel his attendance at very short notice
due to personal reasons.
Many members of the Faculties of
2007 and 2008 - legal and economic experts, natural scientists, and
experienced practitioners in maritime affairs (in particular those
having received favourable feedback from last year's participants)
- could be won to return to Hamburg. A copy of the List of
Lecturers is attached.
Open Event - Guest Lecture
and Panel Discussion
This year, the Foundation chose a
very topical theme for the traditional guest lecture, namely
"Shipping - Crisis and Perspectives" and succeeded to win Dr.
Martin Stopford (Managing Director of Clarkson Research, London,
UK) to present.
This was followed by a panel
discussion chaired by Prof. Dr. Doris König with a high-profile
group of participants from the German Shipping industry. With about
170 registrations, this offer attracted the largest ever audience
recorded for an event organised by the Foundation You will find the
Flyer here.
Moot Court
Four teams of four participants
each competed in the Moot Court Tournament on the maritime
delimitation case "ARCADIA vs. BORDURIA" 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
Vice President Helmut Türk from the Tribunal, Prof. Dr. Doris
König, Prof. Dr. Rainer Lagoni, Prof. Dr. Alexander Proelß and Dr.
Christopher Staker. As before, the moot court judges chose a
winning Team and awarded 3 special recognitions for oral
argumentation.
Resolution
A group of 11 participants drafted
a Final Resolution on the results of the Summer Academy in English
and French, highlighting the achievements of the previous Summer
Academies and giving valuable proposals for possible future
improvements. Kim Emmanuel (Saint Lucia) and Pierre Ebbe Monga
(Dem. Rep. of the Congo) read the Resolution at the Senate
Reception; a copy of the English version is attached.
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 during a very informative bus tour as well as a
boat tour through the port, they went to the medieval city of
Lübeck and made a stop at the beach of Timmendorfer Strand.
Furthermore, the participants visited the Kiel Canal Traffic
Control Centre at Brunsbüttel and the North Sea at St.
Peter-Ording. Once again, the Foundation also managed to organise
an excursion to Berlin, with a visit to the
Kanzleramt.
Senate
Reception
At the close of the Summer Academy,
the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg held an
impressive reception in the Town Hall, hosted by State Secretary of
Justice, Carola v. Paczensky, where the participants received their
certificates.
A Growing
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 to further facilitate networking and add to
the Alumni circle founded by the Class of 2007. The feedback given
by the participants was in every sense overwhelmingly positive,
especially concerning the consistency of the group and the quality
of the lectures delivered.
Thank You
Finally, the Foundation would like
to wholeheartedly thank President Jesus, the Registrar Prof.
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