MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONCLUDES SESSION, FIFTH SESSION EXPANDED AND SCHEDULED TO BEGIN 24 JULY

Press Release
SEA/1513

MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONCLUDES SESSION, FIFTH SESSION EXPANDED AND SCHEDULED TO BEGIN 24 JULY

The Meeting of States Parties of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea this afternoon decided to convene its fifth session from 24 July to 2 August, thus completing the work of its fourth session. At the upcoming session, the Meeting is expected to elect 21 Members of the Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, complete work on its draft protocols on privileges and immunities and take up questions regarding Tribunal rules and procedures.

Meeting Chairman Satya Nandan (Fiji) said that the Meeting had decided to cancel its session previously scheduled for 6 to 10 May, and to add three days to its July session, which was originally scheduled to have begun on 27 July.

The 4 to 8 March session, which primarily met informally, convened three open meetings at which it approved a budget of $6,170,900 for an initial period from 1 August 1996 to 31 December 1997 for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and its Registry, or administrative organ.

The current Meeting of States Parties also approved the utilization of a $409,100 contingency fund in the event that the Registrar considers it essential prior to the election of a President of the Tribunal. The Meeting of States Parties also continued its discussion of draft protocols on privileges and immunities and considered the report of its credentials committee.

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).

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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