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Final legal bid to stop Japanese whaling

Federal Attorney General Mark Dreyfus will head a last-ditch attempt by Australia to halt Japanese whaling in front of the International Court of Justice next week.

Aust to tackle Japan whaling at UN court
The International Court of Justice will hear Australia's case to stop Japanese whaling in June.

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Source: AAP


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The hearings, set down for three weeks from June 26, mark the final stage of proceedings initiated by Australia in 2010.

Mr Dreyfus will go to The Hague to put Australia's case forward in the last week of the hearings.

"Australia's view on commercial whaling are well known," he told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

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"We want commercial whaling to stop and that includes the so-called scientific whaling program that Japan has been carrying on for many years."

Much rests on Australia's legal bid to stop whaling in the southern seas because the ICJ decision is final, Mr Dreyfus said.

"There's no appeal from the decisions of the International Court of Justice, of course we're hopeful of getting the result that we want," he said.

Mr Dreyfus would not go into the details of the case but said written submissions from Australia, Japan and New Zealand would be available later in the week.

"This is a very important decision ... that's why we've invested a lot in the research, in getting the right experts ... and in a very competent legal team that I'm going to be part of," he said.

The ICJ is expected to hand down a decision before the end of the year and the start of the next whale hunting season.


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