24 Jun 2013

Australia makes final bid to stop Japan whaling

7:55 am on 24 June 2013

Australia's Attorney-General will head a last-ditch attempt to halt Japanese whaling in front of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) next week.

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

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

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

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

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