An Investigation into the Ruling of International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in the Norstar case

According to research works in the field of law of the sea, the practice of the International tribunal for the Law of the Sea in the effective implementation and consideration of the principles governing high seas and territorial waters during international disputes seems to have remained largely silent. "Norstar" was a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker transporting fuel in the territorial waters of Panama, Spain and Italy, high seas as well. According to Italy, "Norstar" was accused of oil smuggling and tax fraud, and therefore the executive order to seize it was issued by the domestic courts of this state and was implemented by the Spain which ended in the auction of this tanker and the referral of the dispute between Italy and Panama on this issue to ITLOS opened the window to the Court's detailed discussions on the legal aspects of the case. The only research background in this case in Persian is the article "Freedom of the high seas in opposition to the exercise of the jurisdiction of the coastal government based on the case of Norstar in the International tribunal for the Law of the Sea" by Mr. Javad Salehi which is significant from the point of view of the Court's approach to the principle of maritime freedom and provides a principled view of the Court's judgment in this case. However, the present article seeks to examine other legal aspects of this judgment in the discussion of freedom of navigation, judicial and executive powers of coastal states and the Court's competence in this judgment and in comparison with other judgments issued by the Court in similar legal disputes and finally achieving the legal regime of high seas in the jurisprudence of the Court over the past years that From this point of view, no background can be found for it in Persian and English languages.

The present article has been written in a descriptive-analytical method using library, document and internet resources and with a major focus on the jurisprudence of the International tribunal for the law of the seas.

The offshore crimes affect the internal security of countries. This situation in connection with ships without a flag, with an expedient flag, without documents or with forged documents will cause License to enter the ship and inspect it. But the right to freedom of navigation is also an inalienable principle of the law of the sea, which interacts with the international order. This is a reason for concern for coastal and port states in terms of their jurisdiction and so this topic requires further scrutiny. In a 2019 ruling on the Norstar case, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea discussed some important doctrines with a view to examining their potential impact on the coastal state's jurisdiction over foreign ships. The main question of this paper is what is the Court's approach in this regard and to what extent will it affect the performance of the police force and the security of the coastal and port states party to the Convention on the Law of the Sea in the future?

The silence of international documents related to refueling of ships does not seem to mean a ban on this activity, but it is considered one of the permitted uses of these waters; this will directly affect the performance and competence of the coastal and port police in dealing with actions such as maritime smuggling.