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Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Election of Mr. Shunji Yanai, as a Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)

June 23, 2005

  1. The Government of Japan welcomes the election of Mr. Shunji Yanai, candidate from Japan (Professor of the Faculty of Law, Chuo University, and former Japanese Ambassador to the United States), as a judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in its election held at the Meeting of States Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which took place in New York on June 22.
  2. In light of the ever-increasing role of the ITLOS in the peaceful solution of international conflict at sea, it is important for a judge from Japan to serve on the ITLOS, and the Government of Japan expects active participation by Mr. Yanai, in succession to Mr. Soji Yamamoto, who had this important responsibility for nine years.
  3. The Government of Japan takes the result of this election as an extremely high evaluation accorded to Japan for its previous contributions to the Tribunal, and it intends to continue cooperating for the further development of the ITLOS and make proactive contributions in the field of the law of the sea.
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