Last month 16 diplomats and officials from the ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretariat completed the seventh edition of the Clingendael training programme on the Law of the Sea, in cooperation with the Netherlands’ Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS). The programme included lectures by NILOS experts and skills sessions by Clingendael trainers on intercultural communication, international negotiation, and scenario building.

Participants visited the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the strategic partnership between the Netherlands and ASEAN and its Indo-Pacific Strategy. They also paid a visit to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) where they not only spoke to practitioners about the structure and the types of cases before the PCA but also engaged in a conversation with International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Judge Liesbeth Lijnzaad on the work and importance of ITLOS within the field.

The training concluded with a symposium where participants presented and discussed the role of international law and diplomacy in resolving the conflicts within the South China Sea. The two-week programme was successful in improving the participants’ knowledge and skills as international professionals working on the Law of the Sea.