Courts and Tribunals

Abstract The settlement of disputes between States is generally not regulated by municipal law and municipal courts but by international law regulated by treaty. Because States are not subject to the jurisdiction of international tribunals absent express consent, an important function of dispute settlement clauses in treaties is to indicate whether such consent is granted and, if so, with respect to which disputes before which tribunals. This chapter discusses the following: the obligation of states to settle disputes peacefully; the duty to arbitrate or adjudicate disputes under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC); choice of forum for compulsory settlement of LOSC disputes; nature of dispute; procedural and substantive limitations on jurisdiction under Section 2 of Part XV of the LOSC; and institutional constraints on the exercise of jurisdiction.