The international tribunal for the law of the sea at twenty

This event is accredited with 1 CPD hour with the SRA and BSB

Chaired by Dr Danae Azaria (UCL Laws)

About the talk

Judge Tomas Heidar (Iceland) will discuss the jurisprudence of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in its 20 years´ history. He will also consider prospects for the Tribunal´s future activities and focus on one area where there is potential for disputes that would require judicial settlement, namely the delimitation and delineation of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

About the speaker

Tomas Heidar
Judge, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Director, Law of the Sea Institute of Iceland

Before becoming Judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on 1 October 2014, Tomas Heidar served as Legal Adviser of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland for almost twenty years. As such he was responsible for all matters of public international law, including, in particular, treaties and the law of the sea. He represented Iceland regularly at meetings on oceans and the law of the sea at the United Nations in New York, including Meetings of States Parties to the Law of the Sea Convention, meetings of the UN Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, negotiations on the oceans and the law of the sea and fisheries resolutions of the General Assembly, and meetings of the Ad Hoc Informal Working Group to study issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction. He also represented Iceland at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and many other international fora. He was also in charge of a number of negotiations with the neighbouring countries on maritime delimitation, fisheries and Arctic issues. He was furthermore Chairman of the National Commission on Continental Shelf Limits, was in charge of preparing the Submission of Iceland to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and was Head of Delegation at meetings with the Commission. Tomas Heidar was awarded the title of Ambassador on 1 September 2014.

Tomas Heidar is furthermore the Director of the Law of the Sea Institute of Iceland which regularly hosts seminars and conferences in this field. In this capacity, he is Co-director and Lecturer of the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy, which holds a summer course each year in Rhodes, Greece. He is also Lecturer of the Yeosu Academy of the Law of the Sea, which holds a course in this field each year in Yeosu, South Korea.  He is also Guest Lecturer on the Law of the Sea at the University of Iceland and many other universities.

Judge Heidar is author and editor of a number of books and articles on ocean affairs and the law of the sea and lecturer in numerous academic conferences and seminars in this field.