Protecting whales by hue and cry – is there a role for non-state actors in the enforcement of international law?

• Main Author: Anton, Donald
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Canberra, ACT: College of Law, The Australian National University 2010
• Subjects: International Law; Enforcement; Whales; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10440/1248; https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/10440/1248/3/Anton_Protecting.pdf.jpg; https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/10440/1248/5/Anton_Protecting2010.pdf.jpg

The 2009/10 whaling season in the Southern Ocean witnessed a dramatic escalation in the clashes between the Japanese whaling fleet and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. In January a collision between the Sea Shepherd’s Ady Gil and the Japanese whaler Shonan Maru No. 2 resulted in the sinking of the Ady Gil. Then in February the skipper of the Ady Gil, Pete Bethune, boarded the Shonan Maru No. 2 to effect a ‘citizen’s arrest’ of its Master whilst also presenting a demand for compensation. This paper considers the place, if any, for the sort of hue and cry enforcement of international law envisioned by Sea Shepherd.