About the Law of the Sea Institute of Iceland

The Law of the Sea Institute of Iceland is a research and education institute at the University of Iceland. The main objective of the Institute is to promote knowledge of the rules of the law of the sea, both domestically and internationally.

The Law of the Sea Institute was founded in 1999 and is a cooperative undertaking by the:

• University of Iceland
• Ministry for Foreign Affairs
• Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries

The Board of the Institute is composed of two representatives from each of the partners and the current Chairman of the Board is Ms. Aðalheiður Jóhannsdóttir, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Iceland.

The Director of the Institute is Mr. Tomas Heidar, Judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

The Law of the Sea Institute regularly hosts domestic symposia and international conferences on topical issues in the law of the sea. For example, in June 2018 the Institute co-hosted with the Korea Maritime Institute a big International Conference in Reykjavik entitled “New Knowledge and Changing Circumstances in the Law of the Sea”. 

The Law of the Sea Institute is a member of the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy and the Director of the Institute is Co-Director of the Rhodes Academy.

The Rhodes Academy holds a three-week course in the law of the sea in July each year in Rhodes, Greece.  The Law of the Sea Institute each year offers scholarships to participants in the Rhodes Academy, both from Iceland and from developing countries.