Prompt Release Procedures and the Challenge for Fisheries Law Enforcement: The Judgment of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in The ‘Volga’ Case (Russian Federation V Australia)
| DOI | 10.22145/flr.31.2.5 |
| Published date | 01 June 2003 |
| Date | 01 June 2003 |
| Author | Warwick Gullett |
| Subject Matter | Case Note and Comment |
CASE NOTE AND COMMENT
PROMPT RELEASE PROCEDURES AND THE CHALLENGE
FOR FISHERIES LAW ENFORCEMENT: THE JUDGMENT OF
THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE LAW OF THE
SEA IN THE 'VOLGA' CASE (RUSSIAN FEDERATION V
AUSTRALIA)
Warwick Gullett*
I INTRODUCTION
On 23 December 2002, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ('ITLOS')
ordered the prompt release of the Russian longline fishing vessel Volga, at the time
detained by Australian authorities in Fremantle, upon the posting of a bond or other
security of A$1 920 000.1 The Volga was arrested for allegedly fishing without
authorisation by a boarding party from the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS
Canberra in the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone ('EEZ') surrounding Heard and
McDonald Islands in the Southern Ocean on 7 February 2002. At issue in the ITLOS
proceedings was not whether the activities of the Volga failed to comply with
Australian fisheries law, but rather whether the financial security and other
requirements, which Australia set as the conditions for release of the vessel, breached
Australia's obligation under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea ('LOSC') to allow
the prompt release of detained vessels upon the posting of a 'reasonable bond or other
security'.2 Although the question of what amounts to a 'reasonable' bond has been
considered by ITLOS on previous occasions, in each case the dispute centred on the
reasonableness of the methods used by the detaining state to set the required financial
security; such as how the detained vessel, catch and gear were valued and how the
_____________________________________________________________________________________
* BA(Hons), LLB (Monash), PhD (ANU). Lecturer in Law, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine
Environment, Australian Maritime College.
1 The 'Volga' Case (Russian Federation v Australia) (Prompt Release) (Judgment) (2002) ITLOS
Case No 11 ('The "Volga" Case').
2 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, opened for signature 10 December 1982,
1833 UNTS 3, art 73(2) (entered into force 16 November 1994) ('LOSC').
To continue reading
Request your trial