THE HAGUE, 7 NOVEMBER 2014 

On 31 August 2014, the Kingdom of the Netherlands submitted its Memorial as Claimant in the matter concerning the vessel Arctic Sunrise before the Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. With the leave of the Arbitral Tribunal, on 30 September 2014, the Claimant submitted further Supplementary Pleadings on Reparation for Injury. Both submissions were filed at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) which acts as the Registry in this arbitration. 

On 16 September 2014, the PCA received a petition from Stichting Greenpeace Council (“Greenpeace International”) seeking permission from the Arbitral Tribunal to file an amicus curiae submission. The Arbitral Tribunal invited the Parties to comment on the petition by 2 October 2014. By letter dated 3 October 2014, the Netherlands indicated that it did not have any objections to Greenpeace International’s petition to file an amicus curiae submission. Russia did not provide any comments. After deliberation, the Arbitral Tribunal issued Procedural Order No. 3 (Greenpeace International’s Request to File an Amicus Curiae Submission) on 8 October 2014. Procedural Order No. 3 states that Greenpeace International’s request for permission to file an amicus curiae submission in the arbitration is denied. 

On 8 October 2014, the Arbitral Tribunal notified the Parties of amendments to the procedural timetable set out in Section 2.1.3 of the Arbitral Tribunal’s Procedural Order No. 2. The Arbitral Tribunal stated that, in light of the additional time granted to the Netherlands to file the Supplementary Pleadings on Reparation for Injury, the deadline for Russia to submit a Counter-Memorial was extended to 16 March 2015. The Arbitral Tribunal also confirmed that the deadline for Russia to indicate whether it intended to submit a Counter-Memorial would expire on 14 October 2014. If Russia failed to indicate its intention by that date, the Arbitral Tribunal would understand that Russia does not intend to file a Counter-Memorial. The Arbitral Tribunal received no communication from Russia.