STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON LAW OF SEA CONCLUDE EIGHTH SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS, 18-23 MAY
Press Release
SEA/1589
STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON LAW OF SEA CONCLUDE EIGHTH SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS, 18-23 MAY
19980529 Approves Budget of TribunalNEW YORK, 29 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 concluded their eighth regular meeting on 23 May, after adopting the 1999 budget for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and addressing a number of questions posed to them by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
The States parties also approved supplementary appropriations to the 1998 budget of the Tribunal, and dealt with the financial rules of the Tribunal as well as the pension scheme for its members. It did not take a final decision on the financial rules and the pension scheme.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Secretary-General, as depositary of the Convention, is required to convene meetings of States parties to the Convention to deal with issues arising out of the implementation of the Convention, including the election of members of the bodies established by the Convention and other administrative and financial issues. In the past, the States parties have met to elect the judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, elect members of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and deal with various administrative matters relating to those two bodies.
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. The European Community has also formally confirmed the Convention, bringing the total number of parties to 125.
The States parties are to meet again from 19 to 28 May 1999, to deal with a number of issues, including the election of seven of the 21 judges of the Tribunal and to consider its next budget.
The Tribunal is the body established by the Convention to deal with disputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the provisions of the Convention. The Commission on the Continental Shelf is a body of experts
established by the Convention to advise and assist coastal States wishing to lay claim to an extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from their coasts.
Tribunal Budget
Last year, the States parties approved a revised budget for the Tribunal totalling $5,767,169, about $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 was 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 asked the States parties to approve a supplemental appropriation for 1998 to cover the shortfall in the 1996-1997 appropriations in the amount of $356,864. Following extensive discussions, the States parties approved a supplementary appropriation to the 1998 budget of $356,864 to cover the 1996-1997 budgetary shortfall. It was also agreed the notification of assessed contributions of this amount would be sent together with the notification for the 1999 budget to those States parties which made such a request.
As to the 1999 budget, the Tribunal, in another paper submitted to the States parties (document SPLOS/WP.5), explained 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 noted 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 Tribunal requested a total budget of $7,963,651 for 1999 to cover salaries of judges, salaries of staff and all other expected costs, including a period of 20 weeks of meetings involving all the judges. Fourteen of those weeks will be devoted to judicial proceedings and four weeks to internal Tribunal matters.
The States parties approved a total budget appropriation for 1999 in the amount of $6,983,817, approximately $1 million less than had been requested by the Tribunal. They approved 16 weeks of meetings of the members of the Tribunal. They also approved the establishment of a Working Capital Fund. On an exceptional basis, savings from appropriations in the budget of the Tribunal, up to a maximum of $200,000, would be credited to the Fund. They also decided that the contributions made by States parties would be based upon the scale of assessments for the regular budget of the United Nations for the
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corresponding financial year, adjusted to take account of participation in the Convention.
Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf
The Convention on the Law of the Sea gives coastal States jurisdiction over the resources of their continental shelf up to 200 miles from their coasts. In cases where the actual shelf (the natural prolongation of the land territory of a coastal States) extends beyond 200 miles, coastal States can claim jurisdiction over areas that may extend up to 350 miles or more provided they meet certain technical criteria established in the Convention. The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is the body established in the Convention to assist coastal States wishing to claim extended continental shelf jurisdiction.
In a letter dated 15 May, from the Chairman of the Commission to the President of the meeting of States parties (document SPLOS/28), 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, was resolved positively. The Chairman of the Commission was requested to transmit the two annexes to the meeting of States parties.
The Chairman also explained that the Legal Counsel of the United Nations had given a legal opinion on the applicability of the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations to members of the Commission. The Legal Counsel had done so (document CLCS/5), stating that the members of the Commission can be considered to be experts on mission covered by article VI of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, (more commonly known as the "General Convention").
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
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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.
On the issue of privileges and immunities, several delegates said that as the Legal Counsel had given a legal opinion confirming the privileges and immunities of the members of the Commission, the matter appeared to be settled. The President of the meeting pointed out that if any doubt remained on the matter, States concerned could respond in writing with challenges or contrary opinions.
With respect to the definition of a coastal State, it was suggested that the meeting of States parties was not competent to give a legal opinion, and that the Commission should address the question to the Legal Counsel. It was also suggested that it was preferable not to pursue the matter so long as it remained a theoretical problem, and that a legal opinion should be sought only when the problem actually arises.
As to the question of a trust fund, the Commission decided that the Secretariat should explore the various possibilities that could be made available to allow all members to participate in the Commission.
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