Singapore has signed a joint declaration with International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in allowing the Republic as a venue for settling maritime disputes.
The declaration was inked by Ng How Yue, the country’s permanent secretary to the ministry of law with Vladimir Golitsyn, president of the Tribunal on 31 August 2015.
Through the signing of the declaration, the government of Singapore will provide the facilities to the tribunal or a special chamber of the tribunal, for it to hold proceedings or exercise its other functions in the country. Previously, Singapore became a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on November 1994, which helps to establish the tribunal as an independent judicial body.
K. Shanmugam, minister of Law and foreign affairs of Singapore stated that the joint declaration enable the country to act as a “neutral venue” for the effective settlement of international disputes.
“It (the joint declaration) also demonstrates Singapore’s commitment to the international rule of law by facilitating access to ITLOS in order to serve the needs of the states of this region, with a view to promoting the peaceful settlement of disputes relating to the law of the sea,” said Shanmugam.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
