Japan, Yushin Maru Dragging Whales

Australia with witness from New Zealand and backed by Conservationists and GreenEcoPeace Wins Whaling Case, Japan Demoralised

Presiding Judge Peter Tomka of Slovakia said Japan had not justified the large number of Minke whales it takes under its program.

Japan has said it will abide by the decision. 

“Japan regrets and is deeply disappointed that JARPA II … has been ruled by the court as not falling within the provisions of Article 8.”

The ICJ, by 12 votes to four, said Japan had not acted in compliance with its obligations under the international whaling convention.

Four years ago former environment minister Peter Garrett helped launch legal action against Japan in the International Court of Justice to try and put a stop to its controversial Antarctic whaling program.

It was the first time any country had used an international court to try to stop whaling.

Mr Garrett said he felt vindicated by the decision Labour made in 2010 to pursue the case against so-called “scientific whaling’’ in The Hague.

“I’m absolutely over the moon, for all those people who wanted to see the charade of scientific whaling cease once and for all,’’ he told ABC Radio.

“I think (this) means without any shadow of a doubt that we won’t see the taking of whales in the Southern Ocean in the name of science.”

The Sea Shepherd group was overwhelmed with the decision, as it had defended the whales and made daring clashes with the Japanese to save the whales.

Current Labour deputy leader Tanya Plibersek said Monday’s ruling meant a program which saw thousands of whales killed in Antarctic waters had at last been ended.

“The (coalition) government should now take up discussions with Japan to co-operate on genuine and non-lethal methods of whaling research,” she said.

Current Greens leader Christine Milne also paid tribute to the “champions” at Sea Shepherd, calling the ICJ verdict “justice at last”.

Paul Watson voiced doubt about Japan’s pledges to comply with the ruling but said his group – which has become a thorn in Tokyo’s side – would send its three-ship fleet to the Atlantic if Japan ended its practice.”

“ Paul Watson said, I’m not 100 per cent convinced they will abide by the ruling. Japan tends to agree and then they do whatever they want to do anyway and that has been their history with the International Whaling Commission.’’

Australia had asked the court to ban Japan’s annual hunt on the basis it was not “for purposes of scientific research’’ as allowed under Article 8 of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.

Japan, however, countered during a three-week hearing in mid-2013 that the ICJ didn’t have the authority to decide what was, or wasn’t, science.

Japan insisted lethal research was both lawful and necessary.

But in the UN court the Hague they dismissed Tokyo’s argument.

Tokyo was criticised for doubling its target to 850 minke whales each year after 2005 without first assessing the research effectiveness of its earlier program, which had a much smaller sample size.

Japan hunts around a thousand mostly minke whales annually in the icy waters of the Southern Ocean.

Australia and environmental groups say the hunt serves no scientific purpose and is just a way for Japan to get around the moratorium on commercial whaling imposed by the International Whaling Commission in 1986.

Although the popularity of whale meat is declining in Japan, it is considered a delicacy by some, and meat from the hunt is sold commercially.

Japan has said it will abide by the ruling of the court, known as the World Court, which is the United Nations’ court for disputes between countries.