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© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
A. Del Vecchio, R. Virzo (eds.), Interpretations of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea by International Courts and Tribunals,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10773-4_20
The Use of Experts by the International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and Annex
VII Arbitral Tribunals
Lucas Carlos Lima
Abstract Technical and scientific issues do not rarely appear in the case law of
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (‘ITLOS’ or ‘Tribunal’) or the arbitral
tribunals constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea (‘UNCLOS’ or ‘Convention’). The purpose of this chapter is to analyse,
assess and discuss the possibilities at the disposal of such adjudicative bodies
regarding the participation of experts in the proceedings. The chapter is structured
in three sections, which correspond to each one of the general categories of experts
that may appear in an international judicial proceeding: party-appointed experts, the
assessor-like expert envisaged in Art. 289 UNCLOS, and tribunal-appointed experts.
Procedural issues connected with each of these categories are analysed, especially
the process of nomination of experts, the function they perform in such proceedings
and the issues connected with some basic procedural rights such as transparency,
due process and the independence and impartiality. By comparing the use of experts
in the two systems of adjudication provided by UNCLOS, some conclusions are
sketched.
1 Introduction
Technical and scientific issues are not rare in the case law of International Tribunal
for the Law of the Sea (‘ITLOS’ or ‘Tribunal’) or the arbitral tribunals constituted
under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(‘UNCLOS’ or ‘Convention’). As it is well known, the Convention covers a set of
situations possessing a highly technical character.
1
In this regard, the Tribunal has
observed that some of UNCLOS provisions “contain elements of law and science,
1 See, generally, Anderson (2008), and Scheiber et al. (2015).
L. C. Lima (*)
Federal University of Minas Gerais, Department of Law, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
e-mail: lclima@ufmg.br
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
A. Del Vecchio, R. Virzo (eds.), Interpretations of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea by International Courts and Tribunals,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10773-4_20
The Use of Experts by the International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and Annex
VII Arbitral Tribunals
Lucas Carlos Lima
Abstract Technical and scientific issues do not rarely appear in the case law of
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (‘ITLOS’ or ‘Tribunal’) or the arbitral
tribunals constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea (‘UNCLOS’ or ‘Convention’). The purpose of this chapter is to analyse,
assess and discuss the possibilities at the disposal of such adjudicative bodies
regarding the participation of experts in the proceedings. The chapter is structured
in three sections, which correspond to each one of the general categories of experts
that may appear in an international judicial proceeding: party-appointed experts, the
assessor-like expert envisaged in Art. 289 UNCLOS, and tribunal-appointed experts.
Procedural issues connected with each of these categories are analysed, especially
the process of nomination of experts, the function they perform in such proceedings
and the issues connected with some basic procedural rights such as transparency,
due process and the independence and impartiality. By comparing the use of experts
in the two systems of adjudication provided by UNCLOS, some conclusions are
sketched.
1 Introduction
Technical and scientific issues are not rare in the case law of International Tribunal
for the Law of the Sea (‘ITLOS’ or ‘Tribunal’) or the arbitral tribunals constituted
under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(‘UNCLOS’ or ‘Convention’). As it is well known, the Convention covers a set of
situations possessing a highly technical character.
1
In this regard, the Tribunal has
observed that some of UNCLOS provisions “contain elements of law and science,
1 See, generally, Anderson (2008), and Scheiber et al. (2015).
L. C. Lima (*)
Federal University of Minas Gerais, Department of Law, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
e-mail: lclima@ufmg.br