International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: Jin-Hyun Paik (President) having regard to Article 15 of the Statute of the Tribunal and Articles 19, 30, 31, 45, and 55 of the Rules of the Tribunal accepted the request made by the States and decided to form a Special Chamber to deal with delimitation of their maritime boundary in the Indian Ocean.
Mauritius and Maldives, being States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, participated in consultations with the President of International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on 17-09-2019 in Germany on matters relating to the arbitral proceedings instituted by Mauritius over the boundary dispute. There were deliberations on a possible transfer of the dispute to the Tribunal or a special chamber of the Tribunal under Article 15 of the Statute of the Tribunal. During Consultations, the parties agreed to transfer the arbitral proceedings special chamber of the Tribunal through a special agreement. Through this agreement, the parties conveyed their views regarding the composition of the special chamber of the Tribunal.
The Tribunal decided to accede to this request and formed a special chamber of nine judged to deal with the dispute. They decided on the composition of this chamber with the approval of the Parties. They decided that the proceeding of this body would be governed by the provisions contained in the Statute and the Rules of the Tribunal. The Maldives notified the tribunal of its choice of Mr. Bernard Oxman to sit as judge ad hoc in the special chamber. [Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean, C. No. 28 Order 2019/4, decided on 27-09-2019]