The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea  (ITLOS) was established by the  United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea  of 10 December 1982 (LOSC) (Law of the Sea) to create a special procedure for the peaceful settlement of seabed disputes. ITLOS is the second permanent international court with universal jurisdiction besides the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It is also not an organ of the International Seabed Authority. ITLOS is counted as a member of the UN family. ITLOS is composed of 21 independent members (judges) elected by the states parties to the LOSC for a period of nine years, re-election is possible. The negotiations at UNCLOS III were strongly influenced by two procedural principles: the formulation of package deals and the consensus principle.  Keywords: International Court of Justice (ICJ), International Seabed Authority, ITLOS, Law of the Sea, UN General Assembly, UNCLOS III