Art. 3 of UNCLOS Annex VII provides for constitution of a five-member arbitral tribunal. The Philippines began the process through the nomination of Rudiger Wolfrum as arbitrator in its Notification and Statement of Claim. China had 30 days to likewise nominate one arbitrator, but did not do so in light of its rejection of the arbitration. Normally, the arbitral tribunal is constituted upon mutual agreement of the parties to the case, but in light of the rejection and refusal of China to participate, Annex VII authorizes the President of the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), upon request of the initiating party, to appoint the arbitrator on its behalf. This was done with the appointment of ITLOS judge Stanislav Polack as the second tribunal member on March 25, 2013. Subsequently, likewise upon request of the Philippines, the President of ITLOS appointed the remaining three members of the tribunal, namely Jean-Pierre Cot, Chris Pinto, and Alfred Soons. Chris Pinto was subsequently replaced by Thomas Mensah, who was also appointed President of the Tribunal on June 24, 2013.
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