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Marcelo Kohen is an Argentine international lawyer and scholar. He is Professor Emeritus of International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute, where he taught from 1995 to 2022, and he served as Secretary-General of the Institut de Droit International from 2015 to 2023, the first non-European to hold that post. He has acted as counsel and advocate for states before the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, where he has sat as a judge ad hoc, and he has served as an arbitrator in more than twenty international investment tribunals. His research covers territorial and maritime disputes and the peaceful settlement of disputes, and his publications on the Falklands/Malvinas question include the book Las Malvinas entre el derecho y la historia, co-written with Facundo Rodríguez.
Role at the time: Professor Emeritus of International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute, in an interview on Radio Continental
Defended or excused
Statement summary
In a Spanish-language radio interview, international law professor Marcelo Kohen said Argentina's arbitration against the UK was the right step and "the only possibility" for Argentina to make the UK stop oil exploitation around the islands. He called the start of exploitation the most serious unilateral measure by the UK since 1982 and said UN resolutions bar unilateral measures while the sovereignty dispute continues. Quotations are DI translations from the Spanish audio.
“No, no, no, quite the opposite. I think it is what should be done. I would say it is the only possibility Argentina has to truly compel the United Kingdom to stop the process of exploiting the oil resources around the Malvinas.”
Open the original interview (opens in a new tab)Marcelo Kohen: "El reclamo a un procedimiento arbitral por Malvinas es lo que corresponde hacer"Interview audio, 0:00 to 11:07; answer on the arbitration at 0:21 to 0:38; UN resolutions and unilateral measures at 8:35 to 9:21
Why we used this label
Relative to Argentina's sanctions and legal action against the Sea Lion project, Kohen says the arbitration "is what should be done" and the only way to stop the project, supporting Argentina's legal campaign, so we labeled it Defended.
Argentina is sanctioning UK and Israeli oil firms exploring near the Falkland Islands, calling the Sea Lion project illegal. The UK and the companies say the project holds valid Falkland Islands licenses. The dispute is whether Argentina's sanctions and legal action are justified.
