Australia v. Japan: ICJ Halts Antarctic Whaling | ASIL http://asil.org/insights/volume/18/issue/9/australia-v-japan-icj-halts-antarctic-whaling[5/1/2014 10:41:13 PM] Date: April 8, 2014 Volume: 18 Issue: 9 By: Cymie R. Payne Sign In Donate Sign in for Full Access | Forgot Password/User ID? | Join Log in Home Australia v. Japan: ICJ Halts Antarctic Whaling Printer-friendly version On March 31, 2014, the International Court of Justice declared that Japan must halt its current whaling program in the Southern Ocean. [1] The decision will not affect Japan’s whale hunt in the northern Pacific and it does not foreclose Japan from all whaling in the future, as long as it is conducted within the requirements of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW). [2] Nor does this decision affect the other two nations that currently conduct whaling operations, Norway and Iceland, which, though parties to the ICRW, have objected to and are therefore not bound by the moratorium on nearly all whaling activity that it imposes. Japan violated three provisions of the ICRW by conducting large-scale whaling under the second phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Antarctic (JARPA II). They were: - the moratorium on all commercial whaling; - the moratorium on use of factory ships to process whales; and - the prohibition on whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. The Court found that Japan met the procedural requirements for review of permits by the International Whaling Commission, found in the ICRW Schedule, paragraph 30. [3] Log in