ALISI-NUMIA TAMOEPEAU OF TONGA TO RECEIVE LAW OF SEA FELLOWSHIP
Press Release
L/2748
SEA/1510
ALISI-NUMIA TAMOEPEAU OF TONGA TO RECEIVE LAW OF SEA FELLOWSHIP
19960209 NEW YORK, 9 February (Office of Legal Affairs) -- The tenth Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Fellowship on the Law of the Sea will be awarded this year to Alisi-Numia Tamoepeau, a Senior Crown Counsel in the Office of the Attorney-General of Tonga. Ms. Tamoepeau holds an advanced degree in law and is responsible for providing all government departments with advice on implementing the law of the sea.Ms. Tamoepeau intends to use the research opportunity provided by the Fellowship to assist Tonga in implementing the Convention on the Law of the Sea, particularly those provisions having an impact on its fishing rights. She also intends to advise the new Ministry of Marine and Ports on implementation of the Convention. Tonga is a State party to the Convention.
The Senior Crown Counsel has elected to pursue her research at a British academic institute. This follows a decision by the United Kingdom to provide funds to enable one Fellow to pursue a one-year programme at a university or, alternatively, up to six months of study at a British institute followed by an internship with the Office of Legal Affairs' Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.
This year's award -- the second in as many years to be fully funded by the United Kingdom -- was announced by Hans Corell, the United Nations Legal Counsel. Selection of recipients for the Fellowship is based on the recommendation of an Advisory Panel which is currently chaired by Professor John Norton Moore, Director of the Center for Oceans Law and Policy, University of Virginia. The Panel is composed of eminent persons in international affairs and the law of the sea.
Background on Fellowship
The Amerasinghe Fellowship was established by the General Assembly in 1981 in memory and recognition of the contribution made to the development of the law of the sea by the late Ambassador Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe of Sri Lanka. Mr. Amerasinghe presided over the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea from its inception in 1973 until his death in 1980.
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With the entry into force of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, interest in the Fellowship Programme has continued to increase. The Fellowship is prized for the academic opportunity and the practical experience it provides, and has continued to attract a wide range of highly qualified applicants. This year, there were nearly 120 submissions from 43 countries.
Fellows are chosen on the basis of a demonstrated capacity for advanced study in the law of the sea and its implementation and in marine affairs. It must also be determined that the award would further the Fellow's knowledge and specialization and be of benefit to the recipient's country. The nine previous Fellows have represented nearly all regions of the world, with awards going to candidates from Nepal, the United Republic of Tanzania, Chile, Trinidad and Tobago, Sao Tome and Principe, Thailand, the former Yugoslavia, Seychelles and Cameroon.
Participation by Universities
Over the years, the Advisory Panel has urged that facilities provided by participating universities should be used to the fullest and that every effort should be made to accommodate more than one Fellowship each year. Last year, two Fellowships were awarded. The General Assembly, for its part, has repeatedly asked Member States and interested organizations and individuals to make voluntary contributions to the Fellowship Programme.
The participating institutions are: the Center for Oceans Law and Policy, University of Virginia; Dalhousie Law School, Halifax; the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva; the Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts; the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea, University of Utrecht; the Research Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge, England; the University of Washington's School of Law, Washington State; and the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii.
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