FOURTEENTH LAW OF THE SEA FELLOWSHIP AWARDED

Press Release
SEA/1654

FOURTEENTH LAW OF THE SEA FELLOWSHIP AWARDED

NEW YORK, 10 December (Office of Legal Affairs) -- The Legal Counsel of the United Nations has awarded the fourteenth Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship on the Law of the Sea to Fathima Razni Mulafer of Sri Lanka, with a special award to Derrick F.P. Oderson of Barbados, and has selected Salieu Kabba Sankoh of Sierra Leone as the third ranking candidate.

The fellowship is intended primarily to improve the expertise of government officials, research fellows or academics who are involved in Law of the Sea or marine affairs.

The Fellowship is intended to assist successful candidates to acquire additional knowledge of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in order to promote its wider appreciation and application, and to enhance specialized experience in those fields. The Fellowship is part of the programme of the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, of assistance in the teaching, study, dissemination and wider appreciation of international law of the sea.

Ms. Mulafer of Sri Lanka, who is a Legal Assistant at her country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is involved in law of the sea and trade and economic matters; she also coordinates the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee established to prepare the submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Ms. Mulafer holds an LL.B in Law, and LL.M in International Law, and intends to utilize the Fellowship award to pursue a programme of study in the legal issues relating to the delimitation of the continental shelf.

Mr. Oderson of Barbados, who has been granted a special award, is an Environmental Officer at the Barbados Ministry of Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, and manages its Sustainable Development Programme. Mr. Oderson holds a Masters degree in Planning and an LL.B in Law. He will pursue a programme of study in international law, with special emphasis on maritime boundary delimitation, marine resources and dispute settlement.

Mr. Sankoh of Sierra Leone, who has been selected as the third ranking candidate, is a Research/Teaching Assistant at the Institute of Marine Biology and Oceanography of the University of Sierra Leone. Mr. Sankoh holds a Masters degree in Marine Science. He will pursue a programme of study in law of the sea with special emphasis on prevention and control of marine pollution.

The Amerasinghe Fellowship was established by the General Assembly in 1981, in memory and recognition of the contribution made to the development

of the law of the sea by the late Ambassador Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe of Sri Lanka, who presided over the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea from its inception in 1973 until he passed away in 1980. The Fellowship has been awarded annually for the last 14 years. Previous Fellows have represented nearly all regions of the world. The following countries have benefited from the Fellowship: Cameroon, Chile, Croatia, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Samoa, Seychelles, Thailand, Tonga and the United Republic of Tanzania.

The Fellows are chosen on the basis of a demonstrated capacity for advanced study in the area of the law of the sea and its implementation, and in marine affairs; the determining factor is whether the award would further the chosen Fellow's knowledge and specialization, and would be of benefit to his or her country.

The Fellowship is awarded by the Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Hans Corell, on the recommendation of an Advisory Panel composed of eminent persons in international relations and in the law of the sea and its implementation. This year's panel was composed of the following: the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka, John De Saram; the Permanent Representative of Germany, Dieter Kastrup; the Permanent Representative of South Africa, Dumisana Kumalo; Hisashi Owada, the former Permanent Representative of Japan (he was absent from the meeting but provided comments in writing); Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom; Professor John Norton Moore, Director, Center for Oceans Law and Policy, University of Virginia (Chairman), and Ismat Steiner, the Director of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs.

The General Assembly has repeatedly requested Member States and interested organizations, foundations and individuals to make voluntary contributions towards the financing of the Fellowship. This would enable the Advisory Panel to recommend more candidates for Fellowships provided by the participating universities.

The participating universities are: Center for Oceans Law and Policy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville; Dalhousie Law School, Halifax, Canada; Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Faculty of Law, University of Southampton, United Kingdom; Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland; Institute of International Studies, University of Chile, Santiago; International Boundaries Research Unit, University of Durham, United Kingdom; Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts; Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea, University of Utrecht; Research Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy, Greece; School of Law, University of Georgia, Athens (State of Georgia, USA); School of Law, University of Miami, Coral Gables; School of Law, University of Washington, Seattle; William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.

The Fellowship programme continues to attract a wide range of high- calibre applicants: in 1999, 64 applications were received from all regions of the world. The programme, which includes a course of study at a participating university or institute and a period of practical experience at the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, is prized for the academic opportunity and the expertise it provides to the Fellows.