The Order of Provisional Measures of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in the ARA Libertad warship case

Abstract

The purpose of this commentary is to describe the recent Order of provisional measures issued by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, in the case regarding the detention of the ARA Libertad Frigate. The dispute responds to a complex political, economical and juridical background, in which attention is called to the scope of the immunity of warships, the performance of the dispute settlement system of the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea and, in particular, the jurisdiction of ITLOS.