STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION ADOPT BUDGET, PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF LAW OF SEA TRIBUNAL
Press Release
SEA/1552
STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION ADOPT BUDGET, PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF LAW OF SEA TRIBUNAL
19970529 The States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concluded their seventh meeting on 23 May, after adopting the budget of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the Tribunal. The session also dealt with a number of other issues, including the rules of procedure of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, as well as amendments to its own rules of procedures.The States parties decided to hold their next meeting from 18 to 22 May 1998.
Also at the just concluded session, the States parties held a brief discussion on the future role of their meetings in monitoring developments relating to the oceans and the law of the sea. It was decided to ask the Secretary-General, with the assistance of the Legal Counsel and the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, to look into the issue of coordination of matters relating to the law of the sea, and to keep the item on its agenda for the next session.
On the rules of procedure of the meetings of States parties, it was decided to amend rule 18 of the rules of procedure (observers) to amend it so that in effect new States that have joined the United Nations after the closure of the Convention for signature will have the opportunity to participate in the meetings as observers until they become parties to the Convention. The amendment will allow all Member States of the United Nations or members of specialized agencies of the United Nations system to participate in the meetings.
Budget of Tribunal
The budget of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (document SPLOS/CRP.13) was adopted after the President of the meeting of States parties, Helmut Tuerk (Austria), presented the report of the working group, which undertook informal consultations on the original draft as proposed by the Tribunal taking up nearly all the time devoted to that session of the States parties.
Introducing the budget, Ambassador Tuerk said that the meeting would note that a figure of $5,767,169 as compared to the budget of last year of $6,170,900 for the budget period August 1996 to December 1997 had been approved. "In addition, if you compare this to the amount in the document which we have been discussing over the past week (SPLOS/WP.4 on page 24), it provides the amount of $7,779,061", he said, adding that "consequently, a considerable reduction has been achieved".
As regards the Professional and General Service staff of the Registry, the parties approved a reduction of 14 to 11 posts for the Professional staff and 22 to 16 posts for the General Service. Consequently, considerable savings have been achieved because of those reductions. As regards the meetings described in paragraph one of page two of the document, an amount of $290,000 for the fourth meeting of four weeks in October this year has been approved. However, this has to be viewed as an exception and does not constitute a precedent.
In recruiting staff for the Tribunal, it was the understanding of the meeting of States parties that the principles of equitable geographical distribution, gender balance and the selection of the most qualified candidates would be respected.
It was also decided to approve expenditures for eight weeks of meetings of the Tribunal in 1998 in order to consider and adopt the internal judicial practice of the Tribunal, the rules and practice of its chambers as well as the guidelines for potential parties before the Tribunal. However, it will be up to the Tribunal to decide how to divide the eight weeks as regards the number of meetings.
Any costs of the Tribunal to cover the expenditure of hearing a case will have to be defrayed from within existing resources, in particular from budget items "Temporary Assistance for Meetings" and "Travel of Judges to Sessions". However, the amount of $150,800.00, which has been added to the travel of judges, will only be available if a case is actually submitted to the Tribunal in 1998.
Privileges and Immunities
The meeting adopted the draft agreement on the privileges and immunities of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, further deciding to request the Secretary-General to act as depositary of the Agreement. The Agreement will be opened for signature on 1 July and remain open for a period of 24 months.
The draft agreement has been subject to discussion in an open-ended working group, under the chairmanship of Martin Smejkal (Czech Republic), for several sessions of the meetings of States parties. At the sixth session, in
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March, the Agreement was nearly completed with the exception of a few outstanding issues, which were resolved at the just concluded meeting. Among the issues dealt with were the extent of the measure of execution relating to damages arising from an accident involving motor vehicles owned and operated by the Tribunal, its members and officials. The Tribunal, its members and officials shall have insurance coverage against third-party risks in respect of vehicles owned or operated by them, as required by the laws and regulations of the State in which the vehicles are operated.
On the question of the privileges and immunities of nationals and permanent residents, it was decided that those categories of persons would only enjoy functional immunity necessary for the independent exercise of their functions. The question of waiver of privileges and immunities for the different categories of persons was also resolved.
The draft agreement was adopted by the working group, by consensus, on the following understandings: the meeting of States parties would include in its report a statement specifying that they would not normally expect reliance to be placed on immunity in respect of claims for damages arising from accidents involving vehicles; and that the issuance of laissez-passer by the United Nations to the members and officials of the Tribunal pursuant to the relationship agreement to be concluded between the United Nations and the Tribunal, would facilitate the establishment of the Tribunal and would promote cost-effectiveness, but it is without prejudice to the Tribunal's rights and status as a subject of international law with such personality and capacities as contained in those instruments, and would therefore not preclude the Tribunal from issuing its own laissez-passer in the future to officials of the Tribunal and to be recognized by the States parties to the agreement.
Prior to the formal adoption of the agreement by the meeting of States parties, the representatives of Brazil and the Russian Federation said they could not give their full support to the agreement at present, however they would not block consensus, on the condition that their reservations be placed on record.
Rules of Procedure of Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf
The President of the meeting of States parties reported on informal consultations held on the question of the draft rules of procedure of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. He said that during those consultations, the view was expressed that the rules should be adopted by the Commission itself. It was pointed out that the draft rules seemed to be rather elaborate and might be revised with a view to their simplification.
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It was also mentioned that the rules should address the protection of proprietary and other confidential information. For example, as part of the declaration of the Commissioners upon taking office, provision might be made to protecting, and not making unauthorized disclosure of, such information.
Finally, it was underlined by the States participating in the informal consultations that the Commission might wish to adopt the draft rules on a provisional basis for a limited period of time. If it does so, the declaration of the Commissioners might be modified.
Role of Meeting of States Parties
In a brief discussion of the future role of the meeting of States parties in monitoring developments relating to the law of the sea, a number of delegations underscored the need to enhance the role played by the meeting and the secretariat, through the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, in the coordination of the various activities related to the oceans and the law of the sea. The representative of Israel, for example, suggested that a report be prepared on the scope of activities of specialized agencies as they relate to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the efforts undertaken to carry out those activities.
The representative of the United States said the combined expertise of the meeting of States parties would be highly relevant during the General Assembly debate on the law of the sea. Consequently, law of the sea experts should be involved in the preparation of the annual resolution on the law of the sea. He noted that recent decisions of the Commission on Sustainable Development had confirmed the role of the Convention on the Law of the Sea in the overall framework of the law of the sea. He also said that the report of the meeting should reflect that the Division on Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea performed an important function in drawing together information on all aspects of oceans into a comprehensive format. He agreed that the report on the Law of the Sea should be exempt from the length imposed on other reports of the United Nations.
A number of delegations, including New Zealand, United Kingdom, Russian Federation, India, Norway and Mexico spoke in support of the United States. It was also suggested that the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Legal Counsel and the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, prepare a report for future consideration by the meeting of States parties concerning the future role of their meetings. It was decided, however, that the Secretary-General should look into the issue and that the item be considered once again at the next meeting.
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Other Matters
The States parties decided that at their next meeting, to be held from 18 to 22 May 1998, they would consider the same agenda items that had been put before them at the just concluded session, with the exception of the items on the draft agreement on the privileges and immunities of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and the item on the draft rules of procedure of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
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