ASSEMBLY OF SEABED AUTHORITY OPENS THIRD SESSION AT KINGSTON
Press Release
SEA/1538
ASSEMBLY OF SEABED AUTHORITY OPENS THIRD SESSION AT KINGSTON
19970318 biographical noteKINGSTON, 17 March -- The 134-member Assembly of the International Seabed Authority began the first part of its third session in Kingston this afternoon with the election of a new President, the adoption of the agenda for the session and the expression of tributes to three world leaders who died recently.
S. Amos Wako of Kenya was elected unanimously as President for the Assembly's 1997 session. He succeeds Hasjim Djalal (Indonesia), the first President, elected when the Assembly convened in 1995.
Mexico and Poland were elected as Vice-Presidents for the 1997 session. The Asian Group and the Western Europe and Other States Group asked for more time to present their candidates.
Leader of the Kenya delegation to the Seabed Authority since 1994, Mr. Wako is that country's Attorney General. (For biographical note, see Press Release BIO/3063-SEA/1537, issued today.)
In a brief opening statement, Mr. Wako noted that high on the agenda of the current session was a mining code for the deep seabed.
The Assembly will also examine drafts of instruments concerning three institutional matters. The first seeks to establish a protocol on the privileges and immunities of the International Seabed Authority: that is, the legal rights of the Authority and its staff in respect of the performance of their duties. The second matter is an agreement concerning the relationship between the United Nations and the Authority. As an autonomous intergovernmental organization, the Authority must establish with the United Nations areas of cooperation, coordination, reciprocal representation and exchange of information. The session will also consider a draft agreement with the Government of Jamaica concerning the headquarters of the Authority. (For background information on the session, see Press Release SEA/1536, of 13 March.)
The 1997 session will also examine regulations of the Authority as they relate to staff and its finances. Those issues, together with an examination of the budget and the annual report of the Secretary-General, are expected to
- 2 - Press Release SEA/1538 18 March 1997
be taken up during the second part of the third session, to be held at Kingston in August.
As one of the Authority's two principal organs, the Assembly is composed of 134 States that are parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or which have agreed to apply the Convention provisionally. The Authority was established in 1994 under the terms of the Convention.
With regard to the election of the Credentials Committee, which consists of nine members of the Assembly, the President proposed that item of the agenda be deferred until he could more carefully consider the candidates proposed for election. The chairmen of all the regional groups agreed to meet with the President to discuss establishing a deadline for nominations of all vice-presidents and Credentials Committee candidates.
The late leader Michael Manley of Jamaica, President Cheddi Jagan of Guyana and the paramount leader of China Deng Xiaoping were remembered in tributes from the chairmen of all the regional groups. Mr. Manley was especially commended for the role he played in matters related to the Convention and his untiring support of Jamaica's bid as host country for the Authority.
Thanking his colleagues for their tributes and expressions of sympathy, the Jamaican representative observed that Mr. Manley "was born in Jamaica but belonged to the world". He called him a leader who espoused causes of international significance and recognized the intrinsic dignity of the human individual.
The representative of China also thanked members for their tributes to the Chinese leader and added that the people of China would continue to develop their nation based on the brilliant blueprint left by that great architect of economic development.
The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 18 March, for a brief preliminary discussion on a draft protocol concerning the legal privileges and immunities of the Authority. Afterwards, the Legal and Technical Commission, in closed session, will begin work on the draft rules, regulations and procedures for seabed activities.
* *** *