Argentina has told an international tribunal that Britain should not be permitted to act as a 17th-century colonial power by treating the waters around the Falkland Islands as a Dominium maris Britannici. Representing Argentina at a hearing in Hamburg, lawyer Marcelo Kohen criticized the UK for allegedly believing in the historic doctrine that the British crown holds sovereignty over expansive ocean regions.
Legal Arguments at the International Tribunal
Argentina has applied to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos) for a ruling to force Britain to suspend oil drilling in the North Basin of the Falkland Islands ahead of further arbitration. The Sea Lion oilfield sits approximately 130 miles north of the Falkland Islands, which is a British overseas territory claimed by Argentina. President Javier Milei reportedly shared a photograph of the Argentinian legal team in Hamburg with his cabinet, calling the team tremendous and stating that the administration is working on the Falklands issue like no one else in history.
Speaking to the tribunal on the second day of hearings, Kohen stated that the dispute over the 700-island archipelago in the south Atlantic—known in Argentina as the Malvinas—does not render the area a legal black hole where the UK can act freely with natural resources. He argued that the parties’ sovereignty dispute does not turn the surrounding areas into a Dominium maris Britannici, emphasizing that the era of colonialism should end.
Ellie Reeves, the attorney general for England and Wales, told the panel of judges that Argentina is attempting to advance its sovereignty ambitions through the suspension application. She stated that such an action would destroy the Sea Lion project, resulting in disastrous consequences for the Falkland Islanders and the companies involved, while maintaining that Itlos lacks jurisdiction over sovereignty matters.
Broader Dispute and Upcoming Ruling
Switching between French and English, Kohen stated that the UK omitted the elephant in the room or the whale in the bathtub in its submissions. He noted that the United Nations regards the Falkland Islands as a non-self-governing territory and urged both nations in 1976 to refrain from unilateral decisions that alter the situation before settling the sovereignty dispute. Hydrocarbon exploitation would elevate the islands among the highest ranks of wealth just below Monaco while depriving Argentina of its resource rights, Kohen added.
Argentina’s legal team argued that suspending the drilling, scheduled to begin in March next year and potentially doubling the islands’ GDP, is urgent to prevent irreparable damage to Argentinian rights. In closing remarks to the 20 judges, Mario Oyarzábal, a legal adviser to Argentina’s ministry of foreign affairs, rejected the UK’s characterization of the proceedings as an attempt to litigate the sovereignty dispute.
Responding for the UK, Sam Wordsworth KC stated that the law of the sea convention contains no obligation preventing a state from aggravating a sovereignty dispute, and noted that the UN resolution cited by Kohen is not legally binding. The UK further argued that urgent suspension is unnecessary because oil extraction will not begin until 2028, leaving time for an Itlos arbitration panel to resolve Argentina’s wider claim.
Milei previously described reclaiming the Falklands as a national cause during a speech at the UN general assembly. The islands were invaded by Argentina in 1982 under dictator Gen Leopoldo Galtieri, leading to a 74-day conflict that ended in Argentinian surrender and the deaths of 649 Argentinian military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders. Itlos is scheduled to deliver its ruling on the case on 28 November.
