Judgment at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on the Cases of the Arrested Japanese Fishing Vessels

August 7, 2007

On August 6, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany, has rendered the judgments for the cases on the Japanese fishing vessels seized by the Russian authorities, submitted by the Government of Japan. The trial was attended on the Japanese side by Mr. Ichiro Komatsu, Director-General of the International Legal Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the Agent of the Government of Japan, and other officials concerned from the Ministry and the Fisheries Agency.
With regard to the 88th Hoshinmaru, the Tribunal determined that the reasonable bond to release the vessel and the crew shall amount to 10 million rubles (about 46 million yen: 40% of the amount originally claimed by the Russian side), and ordered the Russian Federation to release promptly the vessel upon the posting of the bond, and to permit the Master and the crew to leave without any conditions. The judgment also made it clear that, concerning this case, the value of the vessel should not be automatically calculated in the amount of the bond. The Government of Japan considers that the judgment has admitted the full argument made by Japan.
With regard to the 53rd Tomimaru, the Tribunal found that the Application of Japan no longer had any object and that the Tribunal was not in a position to give a decision for the prompt release of the vessel, as all the domestic procedures in the Russian Federation had been completed and the decision of the confiscation of the vessel had become final. On the other hand, it has a great significance that the judgment pointed out, in general terms, that the confiscation decided in unjustified haste contradicted the object and purpose of the prompt release procedures provided in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and Japan appreciates this view of the judgment.
The judgment, at the same time, pointed out that the flag State had to initiate the prompt release procedure in a timely manner.
Japan hopes that the release of the vessel and the crew of the 88th Hoshinmaru will be realized promptly based on the judgment. Japan also hopes that this judgment will become a stimulus for Russia to improve its domestic regulations on the seizure and release of foreign vessels and their implementation, which would prevent the reoccurrence of long detention of Japanese fishing vessels in the future.

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