COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF TO MEET AT HEADQUARTERS, 4 - 15 MAY
Press Release
SEA/1586
COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF TO MEET AT HEADQUARTERS, 4 - 15 MAY
19980501 Background ReleaseNEW YORK, 1 May (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) -- The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will examine the technical guidelines for submissions by States claiming jurisdiction over wide continental shelves when it meets at Headquarters from 4 to 15 May.
The Commission is the body mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to make recommendations to coastal States who claim jurisdiction over their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from their coasts.
At its last session, the Commission adopted its rules of procedure and dealt with such other issues as its modus operandi and the data and information to be included in submissions by a coastal State.
The rules of procedure (document CLCS/3) contain two annexes, which were not formally adopted by the Commission but have been submitted for consideration by the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention to be held this month. The first annex deals with the submission by a coastal State which might involve a dispute between States with opposite or adjacent coasts, or other cases of unresolved land or maritime disputes. The second annex deals with the issues of confidentiality and privileges and immunities of members of the Commission.
Commission and Continental Shelf
The Convention grants every coastal State the right to exercise jurisdiction over the resources of its exclusive economic zone -- an area that could extend up to 200 nautical miles from the coast. Under certain circumstances, a State may claim jurisdiction over the resources of the seabed, but not of the waters above it, in an area that could extend up to 350 nautical miles or beyond. The State making such a claim must submit data and other material supporting it to the Commission, which will then make
recommendations in accordance with article 76 of the Convention. Any such submission must be made within 10 years of the entry into force of the Convention for the State making the submission.
The continental shelf is defined in the Convention as the natural prolongation of a coastal State's land territory, comprising the seabed and subsoil thereof, to the outer edge of the continental margin. In any case, where distance permits, the coastal State exercises jurisdiction over its continental shelf up to 200 nautical miles.
The Commission itself was elected by the States parties to the Convention in March 1997. The Commission was the last of the three bodies created by the Convention to be established. The others are the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Technical Guidelines
At its last session, held in September 1997, the Commission established six working groups to deal with the various technical and scientific aspects involved in determining the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. Those criteria, which a State must meet in order to claim a wider continental shelf, are set out in article 76 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Under article 76 of the Convention, the outer limit of the continental shelf of a coastal State shall not exceed 350 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured or not more than 100 nautical miles from the 2,500 metre isobath. The determination of these criteria involves complex, technical and scientific data which must be considered by the Commission.
Four of the six working groups deal with specific subject areas, and the remaining two with interdisciplinary problems arising from the application of article 76 of the Convention. The Commission further decided that each group would begin its preliminary work during the inter-sessional period and would report to the Commission at the forthcoming session. The following working groups were established: (1) on hydrography; (2) on geodesy; (3) on geology; (4) on geophysics; (5) on the outer edge of the continental margin; and (6) on the foot of the continental slope.
Privileges and Immunities
At its last session, according to a letter from the Chairman of the Commission addressed to the President of the Meeting of States Parties (document SPLOS/26), members of the Commission expressed concern over the issue of the liability of members of the Commission arising from potential allegations of breach of the rules on confidentiality. The Commission decided to request the Legal Counsel of the United Nations to provide it with an opinion as to whether article VI of the
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Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations (General Convention) applies mutatis mutandis to the members of the Commission as experts on mission for the United Nations.
The Legal Counsel pointed out (document CLCS/5) that the Commission is neither a principal nor a subsidiary organ of the United Nations. However, it might be considered a "treaty organ" of the Organization, similar to a number of other organs -- such as the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Though their establishment is provided for by treaty, they are so closely linked with the United Nations that they are considered organs of the Organization.
The Legal Counsel concluded that by established precedent in respect to similar treaty organs, the members of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf can be considered to be experts on mission covered by article VI of the General Convention.
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