ECO: The Environmental Voice at the International Whaling Comission | International Marine Mammal Project

ECO: The environmental voice at the IWC

ECO is published by Earth Island Institute’s International Marine Mammal Project at the meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Madeira, Portugal, on behalf of environmental and animal welfare organizations around the globe.

For further information, please contact: Mark J. Palmer, Associate Director, Earth Island Institute, International Marine Mammal Project.

Australia: Lawsuit Still an Option

Volume LXI · No. 3 · Madeira, Portugal · Wednesday June 24, 2009
Acrobat .pdf of issue

Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, was quoted as stating that the government of Australia had not abandoned the idea of an international lawsuit against Japan over that country’s whaling.

Minister Smith told Australia’s Sky News: “If we get to the stage where we think our diplomatic efforts have been exhausted and we haven’t achieved our objective, then we continue to leave open the possibility and the prospect of international legal action, either before the International Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.”

The World Court could find Japan in violation of international laws and norms, given the extensive commercial whaling activity disguised as “scientific research.”