It's a great victory for Australia today and for all the whales in the southern oceans. Finally after literally decades of fighting to stop the slaughter of these magnificent creatures the International Court of Justice in the Hague has upheld Australia's bid to ban Japanese whaling in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean Sanctuary.
ICJ president Peter Tomka said the court concluded the scientific permits granted by Japan for its' whaling program were not scientific research as defined under International Whaling Rules.

The court unanimously found it had jurisdiction to hear the case, and by 12 votes to four found that special permits granted by Japan in connection with the program, JARPA II, did not fall within the IWC convention. The ICJ's judgements are binding and cannot be appealed.

It therefore ordered that Japan revoke any scientific permit under JARPA II and refrain from granting any further permits.
 
"As a state that respects the rule of law ... and as a responsible member of the global community, Japan will abide by the decision of the court," Japan's chief negotiator Koji Tsuruoka said outside the United Nations' top court in The Hague.

"This decision . . . can't but have some effect on whaling in other parts of the world," Mr Dreyfus said. "It will add to pressure on . . . those small number of countries who continue to engage in whaling."
 Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said he was "thrilled" at the court's "pioneering" decision. As Attorney-General when Labor was in government, Mr Dreyfus led Australia's legal challenge to Japan's "scientific" whaling program at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Mr Dreyfus told ABC radio on Tuesday he was optimistic that Japan, as a "fine international citizen", would abide by the court's ruling.

The court's decision could also have wider impacts on other whaling countries, he suggested.

"This decision . . . can't but have some effect on whaling in other parts of the world," Mr Dreyfus said. "It will add to pressure on . . . those small number of countries who continue to engage in whaling."

Sea Shepherd Australia Managing Director Jeff Hanson said the court decision vindicated Sea Shepherd for not only upholding Australian federal laws but also international laws in defending the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary ''for the whales and for future generations''.

''In the absence of law enforcement in the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd has been the only organisation upholding the law in defence of the International Whale Sanctuary,'' he said in a statement.

Australia sought an order from the International Court of Justice to stop the Japanese whale hunt in a case launched by the Rudd government in 2010.

The case began as tortuous diplomatic negotiations for Japan to phase out its Antarctic hunt broke down in the International Whaling Commission.

Other anti-whaling nations, including the United States, warned Australia against going to the court to fight the hunt which kills hundreds of whales each summer.

Then oppostion leader Tony Abbott also rejected the bid to stop the whaling despite his then environment spokesman Greg Hunt urging the government to submit court documents. How can you be anti-whaling and not do all you can to stop it???

He said while the Coalition would like Japan to stop whaling, ''we don't want to needlessly antagonise our most important trading partner, a fellow democracy, an ally''.
How bloody typical!!! He would rather kiss arse than hold up the laws of Australia and do the right thing and now this prick is our Prime Minister. Thank god he wasn't in power to stop the case being presented. I just can't tell you all how ecstatic I am today. I have been fighting against whaling since the mid seventies...I never dreamed it would take so long but it is something that I feel very passionate about and I'm so glad that I'm still here to see this day!