Rendezvous between Provisional Measures and Prompt Release in the ITLOS Jurisprudence: Reflections on the M/T “San Padre Pio” and M/T “Heroic Idun” Cases

Prompt release and provisional measures procedures commonly require a prompt action of an adjudicative body acting under Part XV of the LOSC. In this sense, temporal elements are key in the two procedures. While prompt release has occupied a central place in the early jurisprudence of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, States have gradually stopped using the prompt release procedure. Instead, States have increasingly resorted to provisional measures as an alternative to the prompt release procedure. Focusing on this legal phenomenon, this chapter explores the overlapping function between provisional measures and prompt release by analysing the M/T “Heroic Idun” and M/T “San Padre Pio” cases.