Japan will abide by ICJ over whaling: govt FEDERAL Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says he's confident Japan will abide by whatever decision an international court makes about its controversial whaling program. "I'm very confident that Japan, just as Australia would, will abide by the decision of the court," Mr Dreyfus said on Tuesday. His comment comes after Japan reportedly accused Australia in the International Court of Justice of "affronting" its national dignity by campaigning to end whaling. Japan is making its final argument in The Hague in defence of what it claims is a scientific whaling program, the ABC reports. Mr Dreyfus said the case had been conducted "robustly" between Australia and Japan. "This is a case that has been conducted ... between Australia and Japan, two countries that are friends, but it has been conducted in a robust way as litigation often is," he told reporters. He said the strength of feeling on both sides of the case had exposed "the issues that need to be determined." That's what has happened here.