هاشم قاسمی

The seabed chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is an authority for dispute settlement in seabed area cases. This chamber, in nature, is a specific judiciary for dispute resolution of this marine area in the tribunal. First, the governments must settle their disputes based on one of the peaceful resolution methods, and then should refer to the tribunal in case of agreement. Compared to the International Court of Justice in referring to dispute settlement, the most important feature of the tribunal and its chamber is the creation of a specific chamber and dispute settlement through arbitration and the presence of a special judge for dispute parties. Moreover, the seabed chamber can issue an advisory opinion, if required. Therefore, the jurisdiction of the chamber depends on two kinds of optional and compulsory jurisdictions of the tribunal, so that contractors and their guaranteeing states have joint liability for international seabed authority. It should be noted that states are responsible for an action and omission of the act causing harm in the seabed and under the seabed only in case of failure to apply their regulatory advice for contractors. The first and most important compensation for harm to the seabed is prevention from more hazards against seabed and under the seabed. Furthermore, immediate notification to coastal authorities and states, postliminium (restoration of the status formerly possessed), and complete compensation are forms of respective actions.