The programme

With the support of the Nippon Foundation, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has established a capacity-building and training programme on dispute settlement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“the Convention”).

The programme has been developed to offer young government officials and researchers working in the field of the law of the sea or dispute settlement in-depth knowledge of the dispute-settlement mechanisms available to States under Part XV of the Convention.

The programme will be offered to five (5) participants, three (3) of whom will come from developing countries. It will run from July 2008 to March 2009. Lectures, case studies, and training in negotiation, mediation, and delimitation of maritime areas, will enable participants to acquire a deeper understanding of the dispute-settlement mechanisms under the Convention. Study visits will be made to organizations dealing with law of the sea matters. Lectures will also be given on current issues of the law of the sea (fisheries, environment, climate change, delimitation).

The programme took place for the first time from July 2007 to March 2008.

Selection criteria

1. Applicants should be between the ages of 25 and 40;

2. Applicants should have a university degree in law and demonstrate a capacity to undertake independent scientific research, study and training.

3. Applicants may be:

- mid-level government officials from an administration or government agency, dealing with ocean affairs or sea-related matters as well as legal issues relating thereto; or

- researchers from an institute (academic or government) dealing with ocean or sea-related matters as well as legal issues relating thereto.

4. Applicants should indicate the research topic which he/she intends to pursue in the course of the programme. The research topic should address legal issues of relevance for the State concerned regarding the implementation of the Convention, in particular Part XV thereof.

5. The administration or institute nominating the applicant should indicate in the nomination form the tasks performed by the applicant and explain to what extent the training programme will benefit the institution/State concerned.

6. Applicants should have an excellent knowledge of one of the official languages of the Tribunal (English and French) and a working knowledge of the other language .

7. Short-listed candidates may be interviewed by telephone or video-conference.

Costs

Participants’ costs, including travel, accommodation and a monthly subsistence allowance, will be financed by the Nippon Foundation.

How to apply

Applicants should complete the personal history profile and research proposal form and forward it to the nominating authority who will complete the nomination form. For young government officials, the nominating authority should be a relevant government ministry. For researchers, the nominating authority may be the institute or academic department of the university to which he/she is affiliated.

The nominating authority should send the completed personal history profile and research proposal form and the nomination form in a sealed envelope to:

The Office of the Registrar, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Am Internationalen Seegerichtshof 1, 22609 Hamburg, Germany.

Application deadline

The application deadline has been extended to 15 May 2008. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
Applications may be sent by fax (+49 40 35607 245) or by email but the originals, postmarked 15 May 2008 or earlier, must be sent to the Registry.