Japan has been ordered to end whale hunts in the Antarctic in a historic ruling that saw United Nations judges dismiss longstanding Japanese arguments that the hunting of more than 900 whales a year was carried out for scientific research purposes only. The International Court of Justice’s ruling, which was made today at The Hague, is binding on Japan and cannot be appealed following a case bought by Australia in 2010. The decision raised hopes that commercial whaling could be totally eradicated by putting pressure on Norway and Iceland, the other two nations which have continued killing and selling whales in their territorial waters, despite an international ban since 1986. Japan had…
