The International Law of the Sea at the 30th Anniversary of ITLOS: Developments and Challenges
Thirty years after the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea took up its work in Hamburg, the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea (IFLOS) and the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) are pleased to announce a two-day symposium marking the 30th anniversary of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and taking stock of where the law of the sea now stands.
The Tribunal's first three decades have coincided with a period of remarkable change: the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement, the first advisory opinions addressing States' climate obligations, ongoing discussions about the Mining Code, and the emergence of hybrid threats to shipping and to critical maritime infrastructure. The symposium brings together judges, practitioners and scholars to examine what these developments mean for UNCLOS and for the institutions built around it.
The program's details can be found below. A PDF version is available here.
Registration
You may register for the symposium using the URL below. Please note that the Regular Symposium Fee is €150, while students may be subject to a Student Symposium Fee of €30. Deadline: 24 Septemeber 2026 EOD.
10:00–10:30 Registration and Coffee
10:30–10:45 Opening Remarks
KMI Vice President Yoon Sung Soon and IFLOS Chair Alexander Proelss
10:45–11:15 Keynote: ITLOS at 30
President Tomas Heidar
11:15–12:45 Session I: Maritime Delineation and Delimitation
Moderator: Judge José Luis Jesus
Aldino Santos de Campos – New Developments Regarding the Extended Continental Shelf: Delineation, CLCS Procedure and the Rights of Third States
Youri van Logchem – Unilateral Activities in Undelimited Maritime Areas: Resource Development, Due Restraint and Provisional Arrangements
Lan Nguyen – Conciliation and Maritime Boundary Disputes: From Timor-Leste/Australia to Cambodia/Thailand
Discussion
12:45–14:00 Lunch
14:00–15:30 Session II: Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise and the Law of the Sea
Moderator: Judge Zha Hyoung Rhee
Cymie Payne – From ITLOS to the ICJ: Climate Change Obligations under UNCLOS after the Advisory Opinions
Clive Schofield – Sea-Level Rise and Maritime Entitlements: Towards ‘Post-Ambulatory’ Baselines, Limits and Boundaries?
Beatriz Martinez Romera – Ocean-Based Climate Mitigation: Shipping, Offshore Renewables and Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal under UNCLOS
Discussion
15:30–16:00 Coffee Break
16:00–17:30 Session III: The BBNJ Agreement in Force: Implementation, Institutions, and Challenges
Moderator: Judge Liesbeth Lijnzaad
Duncan Currie – Institutional Design and the Role of Existing Bodies
Daniela Diz – Area-Based Management Tools and Marine Protected Areas beyond National Jurisdiction: Between Ambition and Coordination
Karen Scott – Environmental Impact Assessments under the BBNJ Agreement and the Equivalence Exception
Discussion
19:00 Conference Dinner (upon invitation only)
Sunday, 27 September 2026
09:00–10:30 Session IV: Deep Seabed Mining and the Future of the Area
Moderator: Vice-President Neeru Chadha
Coalter Lathrop – No Mining Code, No Mining? Legal Consequences of the Continuing Regulatory Deadlock at the ISA
James Harrison – Checks and Balances on the Powers of the ISA and the Role of the Seabed Disputes Chamber of ITLOS
Joanna Dingwall – Beyond the 2011 ITLOS Seabed Mining Advisory Opinion: What Role for the Sponsoring States Regime in the Critical Minerals Era
Discussion
10:30–11:00 Coffee Break
11:00–12:30 Session V: Maritime Security and Hybrid Threats
Moderator: Keun-Gwan Lee
Alexander Lott – Challenges Posed by Shadow Fleets and Coastal States Powers
Alina Miron – Protection of Critical Maritime Infrastructure: The Example of Submarine Cables
Bjørn Kunoy – Maritime Security and the Straits Question
Discussion
12:30–12:45 Closing Remarks
IFLOS Vice-Chair Valentin Schatz