The Application of Teachings by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

Abstract

Scholars have examined the role of ‘teachings’ (or ‘literature’, ‘doctrine’ or ‘scholarship’) in various international courts and tribunals, but never the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). This article analyses the general weight ITLOS judges assign to teachings, how the judges distinguish between more and less significant teachings, and how and why different judges use teachings differently. ITLOS judges generally seem to assign teachings low weight, albeit with some exceptions. Some teachings are seen as more important, on the basis of their quality and on the fact that multiple writers agree. Judges treat teachings somewhat differently, with Judge Laing being a significant outlier, responsible for roughly half of all citations.