31 March 2014: The UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Japan’s whaling research programme is “not in accordance with three provisions of the Schedule to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW)” in relation to the killing, taking and treating of fin, humpback and minke whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. The ICJ ordered Japan to halt its whaling activities at a session in the Hague, the Netherlands.

Australia brought the charges to the ICJ in May 2010, arguing that Japan was conducting a large-scale commercial whaling venture, masked as a scientific research programme under the Japanese Whaling Research Programme under Special Permit in the Antarctic (JARPA II). Australia also said Japan was not meeting international obligations for the preservation of the marine environment and marine mammals.

The ICJ supported Australia’s request to “revoke any extant authorization, permit or license to kill, take or treat whales in relation to JARPA II, and refrain from granting any further permits.”

In a press release, the ICJ said it did not find evidence that JARPA II’s activities were being conducted for purposes of scientific research. The ICJ highlighted three aspects of JARPA II that “cast further doubt” on its characterization as a scientific research programme: its open-ended time frame; its limited scientific output; and its lack of cooperation with other domestic and international research programmes in the Antarctic. [UN Press Release] [ICJ Ruling]