JUDGES FOR SEA LAW TRIBUNAL TO BE ELECTED ON 1 AUGUST 1996, MEETING OF PARTIES TO SEA LAW CONVENTION IS TOLD

Press Release
SEA/1504

JUDGES FOR SEA LAW TRIBUNAL TO BE ELECTED ON 1 AUGUST 1996, MEETING OF PARTIES TO SEA LAW CONVENTION IS TOLD

The 21 judges for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea -- senior lawyers, diplomats and professors and other experts from the five geographical regions -- would be elected on 1 August 1996, the President of the Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, Satya Nandan (Fiji) told the Meeting this afternoon as it began consideration of a draft initial budget for the Tribunal.

Introducing the draft initial budget, which covers the period August 1996 to December 1997, Mr. Nandan identified three stages of initial operation: a start-up period, from August 1996 to March 1997 during which a minimum of service would be provided for the convening and swearing in of the judges; a second stage, from April to October 1997, during which the Registrar and other officials would be designated, and in which rules will be finalized; and a third stage, from November to December 1997, of readying the Tribunal to accept cases.

The judges would tentatively met in Hamburg on 1 October 1996 to decide on a President and Vice-President, organize their rules of procedure, financial rules and structure committees. The judges would be sworn in a few weeks later at a ceremonial meeting and continue internal deliberations at executive sessions for four weeks.

Judges would then break for preparatory work with the President and some judges remaining in Hamburg and others returning to their homes to work. The United Nations would provide temporary services for such tasks as staffing the temporary Registry, translation and interpretation, processing texts and records and security. That staff would later be transferred to the Registry of the Tribunal. (For a detailed background of the draft initial budget see Press Release SEA/1503 of 27 November.)

States Parties - 2 - Press Release SEA/1504 PM Meeting 27 November 1995

In discussion of the draft initial budget, most speakers agreed it was necessary to implement the principle of cost-effectiveness without undermining the productive functioning of the Tribunal. As it was difficult to anticipate the Tribunal's future needs, it was suggested that the Tribunal's start-up staff of 21 employees be retained, with a possible expansion according to needs. The initial budget report had proposed 56 staff members following the start-up period. It was also suggested that the Tribunal develop a system for communicating its need for additional funding in line with expanded workloads.

The designation of a Registrar at the Assistant Secretary-General level, a Deputy Registrar at the D-2 level, and several staff members at the P-5 level, as proposed in the budget estimates, seemed excessive to several speakers. Some noted that the Tribunal had a proposed budget substantially larger than that of the International Seabed Authority; they stressed that both bodies should be financed on the same basis.

Several speakers said that efforts to anticipate the number of cases before the Tribunal could lead to the initial budget being inflated; flexibility was the key to the resolution of that problem. It was stressed that the Meeting of States Parties should employ a cautious, balanced approach when it came to discussion of the budget.

Speaking before the Meeting this afternoon were the representatives of Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Jamaica and the Philippines. Also speaking were observers from Spain, France, Belgium, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, China, United States, Russian Federation, Japan and Israel.

The Meeting of States Parties will convene again at a date to be announced in the Journal.

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