14 DAY TRIAL // Japan is not one to give up on its whaling program in the Southern Ocean without first putting on a fight, recent news says. Thus, despite the fact that the International Court of Justice, i.e. the primary judicial branch of the United Nations, has rules that this program is illegal, the country says that it will return to the Antarctic in the near future.
Environmental group Sea Shepherd informs that, on April 11, the Institute of Cetacean Research in Japan filed court briefs saying that the country's whaling fleet wishes to return to the Southern Ocean in 2015-2016 in order to hunt marine mammals swimming in these waters.
On March 31, when the International Court of Justice delivered its verdict against Japan's whaling program in the Antarctic, the United Nations court explained that the country's fleet was killing too many whales for it to be carrying out research activities alone, as claimed.
Hence, Japan's annual slaughters were a violation of regulations set in place by the International Whaling Commission, and, consequently, illegal. It was because of these reasons that the International Court of Justice asked that the country pull the plug on its whaling program without delay.
Although Japan has recently announced the cancellation of this year's hunting trip to the Antarctic, it would appear that the country has no intention to quit its whaling program in these waters altogether. On the contrary, it will merely put it on hold until it can draft a new alleged research program that the United Nations court will not be able to object to.
Given the fact that green group Sea Shepherd has done a great job preventing the Japanese whaling fleet from killing marine mammals in the Southern Ocean up until now, it would appear that Japan will also seek to obtain a permanent injunction against the organization. If approved, this injunction will make it possible for Japanese whalers to carry on with their working agenda unhindered.
Commenting on Japan's decision to roll out a new supposed research program and go back to butchering whales swimming in the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd USA’s Director of Intelligence and Investigations Scott West said, “The Japanese clearly intend to violate the intent, if not the letter, of the World Court’s judgment.”
“They are making a mockery of the International Court of Justice and come before the US Courts with very unclean hands. They are the first to cry foul when someone dares to challenge their lies, yet they expect the world to respect the court’s decisions that are in their favor. They are poachers and operate without integrity,” Scott West added.