Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law Sean D. Murphy was chosen by the Federal Republic of Nigeria to serve as an ad hoc judge for a proceeding before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
The case, brought against Nigeria by Switzerland, concerns the arrest and detention by Nigeria of a Swiss-flagged vessel, the San Padre Pio, its crew, and cargo. While the merits of the case ultimately will be heard before an arbitral tribunal formed under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Switzerland’s request for provisional measures of protection is being heard before the convention’s International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which is based in Hamburg, Germany.
Consisting of 21 permanent judges, the tribunal can be supplemented by ad hoc judges if a state appearing before the tribunal has no judge of its nationality on the tribunal. Ad hoc judges participate in the case for which they are chosen on terms of complete equality with the other judges. Switzerland has also chosen an ad hoc judge, Professor for International Law and Public Law Anna Petrig of the University of Basel, to sit in the case.
Professors Murphy and Petrig were sworn in as ad hoc judges on June 20, the provisional measures hearing was held June 21-22, and the tribunal’s decision is expected on July 6.
“It is a great honor to be chosen to serve as a judge in such a proceeding,” said Professor Murphy. “As a young lawyer at the US Department of State, I attended the first inauguration of tribunal judges in 1996, certainly never thinking that I might be back someday to sit among them.”
Professor Murphy teaches, writes, and practices in the fields of public international law and US foreign relations law. He currently serves as a Member of the UN International Law Commission and as President of the American Society of International Law, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization fostering the study of international law and promoting the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the basis of law and justice.
Professor Murphy has also served as a legal counselor at the US Embassy in The Hague, a US agent to the Iran-US Claims Tribunal, and an advisor to the US Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser. Professor Murphy has represented several countries in international courts and tribunals, including Ethiopia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Suriname, Uganda, and the United States, and has served as an arbitrator in inter-state and investor-state arbitrations.