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Rhinopterra (hereinafter “Rhinopterra”) are both island states located in the middle of the
Eismic Ocean (R.1). Anthozoa is a developing country with a land area of 150,000 sq.
km. and a population of approximately 9,000,000 people. Its economy is largely based on
ecotourism and fishing industries (R.2). It has an islet called Motunui, home of the
ancestors of Anthozoa - the tribe of Motonoa - with a declining population of 200 people.
Motonoans consume fish on a daily basis (R.1). On the other hand, Rhinopterra is a
developed state with a land area of 450,000 sq. km. and a population of 7,800,000 people.
Its economy is largely based on oil export and shipping and cargo industries (R.2).
On the 9th of January 2015, Anthozoa and Rhinopterra entered into a treaty called the
Eismic Agreement on the Conservation of Living Resources in the High Seas (hereinafter
(CEO) was a good friend of the President of Rhinopterra, President Imza Yebv (R.11).
engage into a Deep Seabed Mining project (hereinafter “DSBM”) (R.13). Prior to the
aforesaid announcement, Rhinopterra had invited Anthozoa and other neighboring states
to participate in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the proposed DSBM
project. Anthozoa, however, refused to participate. The results of the EIA were not
published (R.18).
funding the planned DSBM project. The law did not require publication after the conduct
of an EIA. According to the approved project plans, the project was expected to last ten
(10) years and would be done in the High Seas. Rhinopterra entered into a contract with
On September 2015, STI began the prospecting stage of the DSBM project (R.17).
Out of its own regard, STI used suction-lift mining equipment which is known among
opposed to the project saying that the DSBM violates the Eismic Agreement.
2015 (R.17).
Between September 2015 and February 2016, local fishermen from Anthozoa and
Rhinopterra found among their daily catch three (3) dead oarfishes. Within the same
period, the fish yield of the Anthozoan fishermen in the High Seas also declined by 23 to
30%. In effect, the fishing industry of Anthozoa suffered economic loss. In the islet of
Motonui, forty (40) Motonoans died during the same period (R.19).
other marine life. Anthozoa also contended that the economic rights of their fishermen
have been violated, particularly their right to work and their right to an adequate standard
of living. It further claimed that the Motonoans have been deprived of access to food.
Anthozoa urged Rhinopterra to suspend and terminate the project immediately because it
violated Article III paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Eismic Agreement (R.21).
that it did not violate the Eismic Agreement. It argued that the DSBM is considered as a
marine scientific research. Rhinopterra stated that the conduct of the DSBM was pursuant
to Article 143 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and
consistent with the Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Polymetallic Nodules
Both Anthozoa and Rhinopterra are bound by the Charter of the United Nations, the
Statute of the International Court of Justice, the Vienna Convention on the Law of
Treaties, the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights and its
protocols, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the Convention on
Due to the Parties’ inability to settle their differences through negotiation, Anthozoa
and Rhinopterra agree to submit the case to the Court in accordance with Article 40,