In their concluding remarks Japan reiterated their key points of defence, again placing great emphasis on the legitimacy of their scientific whaling practices under Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) (see my previous post for an explanation of this clause and an overview of the case). Quoting the latin phrase "Pacta sunt servanda" ("agreements must be kept"), Mr. Tsuruoka, as Agent of the Government of Japan, argued that "What you have agreed, you are bound to observe. What you have not agreed, however, does not bind you."7 He also stated that "this Court is a court of law, not of scientific truth", claiming that the court has no jurisdiction to rule on the request or to decide what was or wasn't science.