Save the Whales (By Suing in the ICJ)

Seems like Japan can’t cut a break these days. While the Chinese continue to thumb their nose at Japan’s attention to the graves of its war criminals, Australia is protesting Japan’s palns ot increase the number of whales it can hunt. In fact, Australia’s opposition party is pushing the Australian government to sue Japan in the ICJ for violating its obligations under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.

Japan has never had a case before the ICJ, but if it keeps this up, that won’t last long. It remains one of the few major powers to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ (along with Australia and Britain). So such a suit could be brought, although I have no idea how the ICJ will assess whether Japan is in violation of the Whaling Convention, since that Convention allocates some administrative discretion over how many whales a country is allowed to hunt to a separate international administrative body. I doubt, therefore, that Australia has a very good case here and should content itself with using whatever diplomatic leverage it has with Japan, and the International Whaling Commission’s own procedures, to try to limit Japan’s growing taste for whaling.