UI Professor: International Law Needs View From Developing Countries

JAKARTA - Professor of International Law at the University of Indonesia Prof. Hikmahanto Juwana believes that international law needs to include perspectives from developing countries.

"So, international law should be taken, the values taken are) universal values," he said in Jakarta, quoted by Antara, Saturday, May 10.

Hikmahanto was nominated by the government as a member of the International Law Commission (ILC) for a working period of 2028-2032.

He said if elected, he would try to include views from developing countries.

Hikmahanto appreciated his candidacy by the government, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which seeks to place Indonesian citizens in international institutions.

Meanwhile, the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Pancasila University, Eddy Pratomo, hopes to contribute to the opinion making of advisors (advisory opinions) regarding the 1982 United Nations Convention on Marine Law (UNCLOS).

Eddy was nominated by the government as a judge of the International Court for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for a period of 2026-2035.

He was once the Indonesian Ambassador to Germany in 2009-2013 and the Director General of Law and International Agreements at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Eddy is of the opinion that the government should choose younger candidates, but not many take marine law.

In Indonesia, there are less than 10 (experts) of marine law. Lecturers of marine law are very rare. Moreover, lecturers who are practitioners like me, "he said, who had also served as Presidential Special Envoys for the Determination of the Indonesian-Malaysia Maritime Boundary.

If elected as an ITLOS judge, said Eddy, he would try to voice views from archipelagic countries, especially Indonesia.

TLOS is an independent international court set up under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The court is tasked with resolving legal disputes related to the interpretation and application of UNCLOS and issuing decisions on cases related to sea resource exploration and exploitation, marine environmental protection, and other maritime legal issues.

Based in Hamburg, Germany, ITLOS plays an important role in maintaining regularity and justice in global use of the sea.

The ILC is an institution that encourages the development of international law, which consists of 34 international law experts elected every five years by the UN General Assembly.

Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency provides recommendations to the UN General Assembly on the development and codification of international law.