043- Constitution of the Maritime Safety Committee of the IMO
On March 25th, 1959, the Secretary General of the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization ( now IMO), requested the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to render an advisory opinion on the legality of the composition of its Maritime Safety Committee. The question revolved around whether the absence of Liberia and Panama in that Committee was contrary to the Convention establishing the Organization. The latter provided, inter alia, that the Committee should consist of 14 members, 8 of whom had the largest commercial fleets (Liberia and Panama belonged to the latter category).
In its opinion of June 8th 1960, the ICJ concluded that the composition of the Maritime Security Committee was not in conformity with the Convention establishing the International Maritime Organization.
This summary is provided for informational purposes only, does not involve the responsibility of Dome and should in no way be used as a substitute for a careful reading of the judgment and order of the case.
