Walking Down Memory Lane on the 50th Anniversary of YJIL
The Jurist
Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain), International Court of Justice (2001)
Professor W. Michael Reisman served as one of the counsels for the Kingdom of Bahrain in the International Court of Justice proceedings concerning the maritime delimitation and territorial questions between Bahrain and Qatar. In 1991, Qatar initiated proceedings by filing an Application with the Registry of the Court against Bahrain concerning disputes between the two states relating to sovereignty over the Hawar Islands, sovereign rights over the shoals of Dibal and Qit’at Jaradah, and the delimitation of their maritime areas. The Court delivered its first Judgement on Jurisdiction and/or Admissibility in 1994 and delivered the final judgment on the merits on March 16, 2001, a decade after it was initiated.
The first image depicts Professor Reisman, as Counsel and Advocate, with the legal team for the Kingdom of Bahrain in front of the Peace Palace in The Hague in 2001.
In the second image Professor Reisman, as Counsel and Advocate, is joined by Fathi Kemicha, Elihu Lauterpacht, Jan Paulsson, Robert Volterra, and Prosper Weil along, as co-counsels, representing the Kingdom of Bahrain before the International Court of Justice.
In the third image, Professor Reisman is receiving an Order of Bahrain, First Class, from His Highness, the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa (2001).
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague (2007)
Professor W. Michael Reisman, appointed by Eritrea, served as one of the five arbitrators in the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission Proceedings. The Commission, seated in The Hague, was mandated to delimit and demarcate the colonial treaty border between the two countries. The case was initiated in 2000, with the final award being issued in 2002. However, the delimitation phase was followed by a demarcation phase, which did not conclude until November 30, 2007.
The top image depicts Reisman in front of the Peace Palace in The Hague with fellow arbitrators. The bottom image depicts the arbitrators.
Guinea v. Guinea-Bissau Maritime Delimitation, Ad Hoc Tribunal (1985)
Professors W. Michael Reisman and Myres S. McDougal, both at the Law Faculty of Yale University, served as counsels, among others, for The Republic of Guinea. In a 24-month proceeding, the ad hoc arbitration tribunal, consisting of three members of the International Court of Justice, issued an award that delimited the maritime boundary between Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, a boundary that was originally established by an 1866 Convention, entered into by France and Portugal and delimiting their respective colonial land holdings at that time.
The English translation of the French ad hoc arbitration tribunal final award was provided by Robert F. Pietrowski, Jr., of Bracewell & Patterson, who served, along with Reisman and McDougal, as lead counsel to the Republic of Guinea, and is published in the International Legal Materials (ILM).
The top photograph captures Reisman with the legal team while the bottom photograph shows him delivering his submission in the maritime boundary delimitation dispute between Guinea and Guinea-Bissau (1984).
Barbados v. The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, London (2005)
Professor W. Michael Reisman served as one of the counsels for Barbados in an arbitration between Barbados and the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, which related to the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) between them. The arbitration was registered with the Permanent Court of Arbitration and submitted under Article XV of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The photograph captures the Barbados delegation and legal team at the hearing of an arbitration under the UNCLOS, 17-28 October 2005.
Qatar v. United Arab Emirates, International Court of Justice (2019)
Hearing before the International Court of Justice on the United Arab Emirates' Request for Provisional Measures in the case concerning the Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Qatar v. United Arab Emirates) (7-9 May 2019).