The courtroom in Hamburg can be a busy place, with delegations sometimes numbering 30 to 40 people.
Among the applicants or respondents are ministers — foreign affairs, justice, transport or fisheries — legal advisors, ambassadors and academics from distinguished universities, such as Oxford, Cambridge and the Sorbonne, as well as leading law firms.
Applications to ITLOS can be via the unilateral request of a state or by two states agreeing.