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Depletion-Safe Tuna: Has The Unclos Tribunal Usurped Its Members’ Democracy?, Etan M. Basseri

Etan M Basseri

In 1999 the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea heard a complaint of fishing violations, with Australia and New Zealand alleging that Japan had exploited the delicate southern bluefin tuna fisheries in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Japan responded, and eventually prevailed, with the argument that the dispute was governed by a separate multilateral treaty concerning the tuna species. The issue of jurisdiction was a major issue in the case.

This paper argues that the Tribunal’s formation and operation was and is consistent with democracy. It applies four different critiques of …