STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION BEGIN FOURTH SESSION
Press Release
SEA/1511
STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION BEGIN FOURTH SESSION
19960304 The Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea this morning began its fourth session, during which it will consider the draft initial budget of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the central mechanism of the compulsory dispute settlement system established by the Convention, to be based in Hamburg. Issues related to the election of Tribunal members, as well as the report of the third Meeting of States Parties held in New York from 27 November to 1 December 1995, will also be considered by the current Meeting, which will conclude on 8 March.The Meeting President, Satya Nandan (Fiji), called on regional groups to nominate candidates for vacant Vice-Chairmanships. Mr. Nandan also introduced to the Meeting the new Director of the Office of Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Moritaka Hayashi. The Meeting decided this morning that its Credentials Committee should not take up the matter of participation by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in the work of the current session.
The representative of Germany termed this week's meeting on the budget for the Tribunal as crucial, given that decisions taken would affect the functioning of a system which had taken 25 years to create. His Government had ensured that the Tribunal would enjoy facilities consistent with its importance by providing a new building and offices, which would cost the Federal Republic of Germany and the city of Hamburg some $100 million. He said his Government was committed to the principle of cost effectiveness, but implementation of the that principle must not be allowed to hamper the functioning of the Tribunal, and he opposed the placement of any further budget limitations on that institution.
The Meeting of States Parties will convene again at 3 p.m. today.
Draft Initial Budget
The current Meeting of States parties had before it the draft initial budget for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (document
SPLOS/WP.1/Rev.1). The draft budget was reviewed and revised by the Meeting of States parties, with the participation of financial experts from States, at its third session held in New York from 27 November to 1 December 1995.
The draft foresees total expenses of $6,217,000, including $5,616,400 for recurrent and non-recurrent expenses for the period August 1996 to December 1997, start-up expenses of $191,500 for the period April to July 1996, and a contingency provision of $409,100 to cover temporary staff for the period January to December 1997. It also provides, for the initial budgetary period of the Tribunal, a working capital fund of $500,000.
The initial budgetary period would comprise a "start-up" phase of the Tribunal, which would commence following the election of the Tribunal's 21 members. The Tribunal is scheduled to convene its first four-week organizational session on 1 October 1996. Two weeks of that session will be set aside for the election of the President and Vice-President, setting up of chambers and committees and other practical internal arrangements. That would be followed by the inauguration of the Tribunal with a formal swearing-in ceremony for the judges, who would resume in executive session for the remaining two weeks.
Once preliminary organization is completed, it is assumed for planning purposes that the Tribunal will enter its first functional phase by January 1998, with its annual workload projected to comprise five to six contentious cases and four to six applications, such as those for provisional measures or the prompt release of vessels and crews.
It is also assumed that, in the first functional phase, work of the Tribunal's Registry would begin. The Registry, the principal administrative organ of the Tribunal, is expected to comprise a legal division, documentation/archives and linguistic services, and a division of administration and general services.
Also during the preliminary 15-month organizational phase, the judges would organize the work of the Tribunal, elect officials from among themselves, make the necessary administrative arrangements and appoint an Acting Registrar. Arrangements would be made for a small nucleus of staff to service the meetings of the judges and to organize the Registry. The judges would also have to adopt the Rules of the Tribunal; formulate the terms and conditions of service for the officials and staff of the Registry; organize procedures for dealing with cases, budget, accounts, administration and personnel; elect a Registrar; and appoint a deputy.
During that period, the Registry would also have to carry out its internal administrative organization and recruitment, while giving effect to the personnel, budgetary and accounting arrangements that are adopted.
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Remuneration for the members of the International Tribunal will consist of an annual allowance, a special allowance for each day that they are engaged in the business of the Tribunal, and a subsistence allowance for each day that they are present at the seat of the Tribunal. Total remuneration is not to exceed the $145,000 net received by the Judges of the International Court of Justice, according to the draft budget. Members of the Tribunal will meet for up to 12 weeks during the initial period August 1996 to December 1997.
According to the report, the Convention provides that Tribunal expenses shall be borne by the States Parties, the International Seabed Authority and users of the Tribunal that are not States Parties. But it provides no guidance regarding how financing should be apportioned between the States Parties, the Authority and other users, nor among the individual States Parties.
At the second and third Meetings of States Parties, it was decided that apportionment would be considered together with the budget, and that a decision would be taken on the source of funding or financing of the budget at the fourth Meeting. At those sessions, delays were foreseen in approving the scale of assessments. It was considered that, following international practice, the adoption on an interim basis of an existing scale of assessments -- such as that of the United Nations as a whole -- might be an appropriate option.
Annexes to the report detail administrative expenses of the Tribunal for the initial period, post requirements of the registry, and designations and staffing levels of the registry during the initial period. Staffing allows for seven Professional and 14 General Service posts.
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea was created by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Tribunal Statute (Annex VI to the Convention) sets out its method of function and composition. Administrative arrangements and financial implications of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea are outlined in Volume I of the Report of the Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Authority and for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (document LOS/PCN/152).
Also before the current Meeting is a provisional list of 29 candidates for membership in the 21-member Tribunal (document SPLOS/INF.4). According to the Tribunal Statute, the members elected should be persons enjoying the highest reputation for fairness and integrity and of recognized competence in the field of the law of the sea.
The report of the 27 November to 1 December Meeting of States Parties (document SPLOS/5) is also before the current session.
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States Parties
As of 31 January, ratifications, accessions or successions to the Convention had been deposited with the Secretary-General by the following 85 States: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Paraguay, Philippines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
New States Parties since the last meeting are Argentina, Jordan, Republic of Korea and Nauru. France and the United Kingdom are prospective States Parties. The French National Assembly has adopted a law approving ratification, and the United Kingdom has indicated its intention to become a Party.
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