The UN court order to release an Argentine naval training ship detained by Ghana two months ago at the request of an American hedge fund sets a precedent and has ramifications for T&T and other countries regarding the Law of the Sea.
So said T&T judge Anthony Lucky, a member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea based in Hamburg, Germany.
Speaking to the T&T Guardian in a telephone interview, yesterday, Lucky said: "The reasons set out in the order and separate opinions do set a precedent because it is the first time during peace time that a war ship has been seized albeit by an arm of the state with an independent judiciary. "Ghana cannot use its constitution as a shield to circumvent its rights and obligations in international law. T&T is a state party to the convention and the decision has to be noted' I was involved as one of the judges, voted for and gave a separate opinion adding certain views not fully addressed in the order.
"T&T has to bear in mind that our relationship with our Latin American neighbours are very good, so to those with Ghana." The Argentine navy's frigate ARA Libertad, a training vessel, was held in Ghana's port of Tema on October 2.
The ship was seized in accordance with an order of the Ghanaian High Court of Justice, in which NML Capital Ltd, obtained judgment against Argentina for a debt of $300 million.
Argentina claimed that a warship enjoyed immunity and cannot be seized. In his separate opinion Lucky added that the right of innocent passage of the ship through the internal waters, the territorial sea and the EEZ of Ghana onto the high seas was infringed by the unlawful seizure of the vessel.
He said Both Argentina and Ghana were parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which provided for immunities of warships and other government ships operated for non-commercial purposes.
Ghana's government said in a statement that it "will carefully consider the Tribunal's Order with a view to ensuring that it is given effect, having regard to the requirements of the constitution and the country's international obligations."