STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION TO MEET AT HEADQUARTERS, 18 - 22 MAY
Press Release
SEA/1587
STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION TO MEET AT HEADQUARTERS, 18 - 22 MAY
19980515 Background ReleaseTo Discuss Budget of Tribunal, Issues Concerning Commission on Continental Shelf
NEW YORK, 15 May (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) -- The States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will hold their eighth meeting at Headquarters from 18 to 22 May, where they are expected to discuss the proposed 1999 budget for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, as well as, among other things, several issues submitted for the consideration of the parties by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
The States parties meet periodically to address issues arising from the implementation of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, including election and other administrative matters relating to the institutions created by the Convention -- the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. The other institution created by the Convention, the International Seabed Authority, is an autonomous institution, and it is directly responsible for its own functioning.
A State party to the Convention is a State which has indicated its consent to be bound by the Convention, in most cases through ratification of or accession to the instrument. There are presently 124 States parties to the Convention. The European Community has also formally confirmed the Convention, bringing the total number of parties to 125.
The meeting is also scheduled to discuss the future role of the States parties in the review of issues related to oceans and the law of the sea. At present, the only global forum where those issues are addressed in a comprehensive manner is the General Assembly of the United Nations. The States parties, at their last meeting, expressed the desire to maintain this issue on their agenda, thus providing them with the opportunity to undertake a regular review of matters relating to oceans and the law of the sea.
Budget of Tribunal
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is the body established by the Convention, as part of its binding dispute-settlement mechanism, to deal with issues arising out of the interpretation or application of the Convention. Parties to the Convention are bound to submit their disputes concerning issues addressed in the Convention to a binding dispute settlement mechanism. The parties may choose from a number of forums, including the International Court of Justice, the Tribunal, or other arbitral tribunals.
The Tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction in disputes concerning the exploitation of deep seabed mineral resources, whether those disputes are between States parties or disputes involving the International Seabed Authority.
Last year, the States parties approved a revised budget for the Tribunal totaling $5,767,169 - - a little more than $2 million less than the Tribunal had originally requested. However, in a report submitted to the States parties by the Tribunal (document SPLOS/WP.8) it is noted that the judges of the Tribunal held a fourth session last year, at an expense of $332,621, or $42,621 more than had been approved for that session. Also the cost involved when the Tribunal considered its first case was $300,215.
Therefore, the Tribunal is asking the States parties to approve the revised estimates for 1996- 1997 and appropriate an additional sum of $356,864 for the budget period of 1996-1997 in order to cover the shortfall.
The Tribunal, in another paper submitted to the States parties (document SPLOS/WP.5), explains that once again its budget resource requirements in 1999 will be determined largely by the number and nature of the cases submitted to it. It notes that it already has had experience and dealt with the functions involved with the receipt of applications, the filing and processing of memorials, counter-memorials, responses and replies, deliberations and oral hearings, and drafting and delivering of judgements and orders.
The programme of work for the Tribunal for 1999 envisages meetings of the Tribunal for 20 weeks involving all the judges, of which 14 weeks will be devoted to judicial proceedings and four weeks to internal Tribunal matters.
With the above in mind, the Tribunal is requesting a total budget for 1999 of $7,963,651, to cover salaries of judges, salaries of staff, and all other expected costs.
In other matters concerning the Tribunal, the States parties will have before them the draft financial regulations of the Tribunal (document SPLOS/WP.6), as well as the draft pension scheme regulations for members of the Tribunal (document SPLOS WP.7).
Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf
In a letter dated 12 March, from the Chairman of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf addressed to the President of the meeting of States parties (document SPLOS/6), the Chairman notes that the Commission had adopted its rules of procedure, with the exception of the two annexes to those rules. Annex I is entitled "Submissions in case of a dispute between States with opposite or adjacent coasts or in other cases of unresolved land or maritime disputes". Annex II is entitled "Confidentiality".
With respect to those annexes, the Chairman of the Commission noted a decision by the Commission that it would not adopt annex I until it had been considered by the Meeting of States parties. With respect to annex II, the Commission decided that it would be adopted if and when the issue of the privileges and immunities of its members, in dealing with confidential material and in the exercise of all their other functions, was resolved positively. The Chairman of the Commission was requested to transmit the two annexes to the meeting of States parties.
In addition to the issues concerning the rules of procedure, the Commission also decided to submit the following matters to the meeting of States parties for clarification and/or possible recommendation:
(a) In the light of article 4 of annex II to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, do the terms "a coastal State" and "a State" include a non-State party to the Convention, or do they only refer to a coastal State or a State which is a State party to the Convention?
(b) The Commission also requested the meeting of States parties to consider a recommendation for the establishment of a trust fund to be administered by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Such a fund would be used to meet the travel and accommodation expenses of members of the Commission from developing countries.
Other Matters
In accordance with its rules of procedure, the meeting of States parties would elect a new President and Vice-Presidents at each new session.
The meeting is also expected to deal with its own rules of procedure, in particular, the rule dealing with decisions on questions of substance (rule 53).
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