Posted on 31 March 2014
| Gland, Switzerland – The International
Court of Justice ruled today that Japan
should immediately cease all whaling activities
under its current scientific programme JARPA
II. The decision is a major victory for
whale protection efforts and a clear call
for the end of hunting in the Southern Ocean.
The judgement in favour
of Australia in the case against what Japan
calls ‘scientific whaling’ came in a near
unanimous ruling announced by the UN’s highest
court. The ruling upholds Australia’s claim
that Japanese whaling under its JARPA II
program is in breach of its obligations
under the International Convention for the
Regulation of Whaling.
“The decision of the
court will finally allow the purpose of
the Southern Ocean Sanctuary to be fulfilled,”
said Aimée Leslie, Global Cetacean
and Marine Turtle Manager for WWF International.
“Protecting whales in the Southern Ocean
is essential to maintaining healthy whale
populations around the world.”
In the ruling, the court
determined that Japan’s programme was not
designed to reach its stated objectives
and that the special permits granted by
Japan in connection to its whaling in the
Southern Ocean are not for scientific research.
“Japan shall revoke
any extant authorization, permit or licence
granted in relation to JARPA II, and refrain
from granting any further permits in pursuance
of that programme,” said Judge Peter Tomka
in reading the decision.
As a result of the ruling,
the Japanese government must end all whaling
under their current programme in the Southern
Ocean. The court’s decision is binding and
cannot be appealed.
“The ruling of the court
deserves to be celebrated and demands to
be observed,” says Ghislaine Llewellyn,
Conservation Manager for WWF-Australia.
“Finally the unnecessary killing of whales
in this critical whale feeding ground will
stop.”
The Australian government
initiated legal proceedings against Japan
in 2010. The case alleged that scientific
whaling by Japan is a violation of the country’s
treaty obligations under the International
Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
as well as other international obligations
for the preservation of marine mammals and
the marine environment.
Commercial whaling was
banned worldwide in 1986. The Southern Ocean
surrounding Antarctica was declared a whale
sanctuary eight years later. Despite these
protections, Japan has hunted over 10,000
whales in the Southern Ocean since the moratorium
was put in place.
“Today the world court
decision has made the case for the enforcement
of global agreements that protect biodiversity
for generations to come,” added Leslie.
In addition to whaling,
Southern Ocean whales are under threat by
commercial fishing of prey species, noise
pollution, chemical spills, ship strikes,
and climate change. The uncertainty around
Southern Ocean whale population numbers
increases the importance of a precautionary
approach to their management.
