On the Way to Definitive Settlement of Dispute: Lessons from the Whaling Case
Whaling Agora
The aftermath of the Whaling Case is a good example for us to examine the question, ‘Can a dispute be definitively settled by an ICJ Judgment?’ Legally speaking, an ICJ Judgment, legally binding the litigating parties, must bring a peaceful settlement of dispute to the parties. Actually, soon after the Whaling Case, Japan showed no reluctance to abide by the Judgment and Australia showed no triumph about the Judgment. Thus, superficially, the dispute seemed to have disappeared completely. However, a potential conflict of interests remained among them, including New Zealand, and it appeared in the International Whaling Commission which adopted a new resolution with an intention to limit the possibility of research whaling. The Whaling Case illustrates how difficult it is to solve a conflict, which exists behind a dispute.