Argentina and Ghana conclude Agreement in the matter of the ARA Libertad Arbitration

The Argentine Republic and the Republic of Ghana, the Parties in the ARA Libertad Arbitration, have concluded an Agreement in relation to their dispute. Delegations from both States met to formalize their Agreement at an official signing ceremony at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Friday, 27 September 2013. In addition to the Parties’ delegations, the ceremony was attended by H.E. Judge Bruno Simma, the President of the Arbitral Tribunal in this matter, and representatives of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The arbitration, which was initiated by Argentina pursuant to Annex VII to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the “Convention”), concerned the detention and court measures adopted by Ghana against the Argentine frigate ARA Libertad in the Port of Tema, Ghana, in October 2012. As noted in the Agreement, “[o]n June 20, 2013 the Supreme Court of Ghana delivered a judgment which sets out the Ghanaian law with regard to the arrest of warships and which upholds the customary international law position on the immunity of warships.” The Parties agreed that this, and other measures taken by Ghana, “constitute sufficient satisfaction to discharge any injury occasioned by the injunction measure over the Argentine warship – frigate ARA Libertad”. The Parties have requested that the Arbitral Tribunal “issue an order for the termination of the arbitral proceedings.”