Final written arguments in Australia's complaint against Japan over whaling in the Southern Ocean will be due in March 2012, the world court has confirmed. The case will take years to resolve.

Australia filed its case at the Hague-based International Court of Justice last month, arguing that Japan was violating the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) by killing whales for research purposes. Cases at the court typically take years to resolve, and this is no exception. Australia must file initial pleadings by May 2011 and Japan must counter by March 2012.

The Australian statement of claim, dated 31 May 2010, alleges that Japan is in breach of its obligations under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW). It seeks an order revoking any permits by which Japan has conducted scientific whaling in the Antarctic and assurances from Japan that it will not conduct similar activities in the future.

The ICRW allows Contracting Governments to grant its nationals a special permit authorizing them to take whales for the purpose of "scientific research". It is under this article that several states including Japan, Iceland, and Norway, have been able to pursue whaling campaigns despite this global ban. While this is Australias' first international claim against Japanese whaling, the issue, under domestic law, has already been litigated in Australias' federal courts. A decision would come in 2013 or later.