STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON LAW OF SEA TO HOLD ELEVENTH MEETING AT HEADQUARTERS, 14 - 18 MAY

Background Release

STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON LAW OF SEA TO HOLD ELEVENTH MEETING

AT HEADQUARTERS, 14 - 18 MAY

To Consider Budget, Financial Regulations

And Elect New Member of International Tribunal for Law of Sea

The election of a new member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, approval of the Tribunal’s budget and consideration of its financial regulations, as well as issues related to the role of the Meeting of States Parties and the time limit for submissions by coastal States to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, will be among the matters before the States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea when they hold their eleventh meeting at Headquarters from 14 to 18 May.

The meetings of the States Parties are convened by the Secretary-General in accordance with his responsibilities under the provisions of the Convention.  In addition to matters relating to the administration and budget of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the meetings have considered other issues relating to the implementation of the Convention, including matters related to the work of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

At this year’s meeting, the States Parties will also continue debate on a proposal previously submitted by Chile, concerning a possible role for the Meeting of States Parties in the review of issues of a general nature that have arisen with respect to the Convention (article 319).

Further, the meeting will have before it a report prepared by the Secretariat on issues related to the possible extension of the 10-year time limit for submission of scientific and technical data to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf by States intending to establish the outer limit of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

Other agenda items include rules of procedure of the Meeting of States Parties, in particular the rules dealing with decisions on questions of substance (rule 53) and the establishment of a finance committee.

Election of New Member of Tribunal

The Meeting of States Parties will hold a special election to fill a vacancy left on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea by the death last year of Judge Lihai Zhao (China).  The Tribunal is comprised of 21 members (judges) elected to nine-year terms.  In accordance with the Convention, an election to fill a vacancy left by a member whose term has not expired is to be for the remainder of that term.

In a note dated 6 November 2000, the Registrar of the Tribunal requested States Parties to the Convention to submit nominations for the vacancy.  Thus far, only one candidate has been put forward –- Guangjian Xu (China).  The candidate is a legal adviser with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and has been a Vice-President and Senior Adviser to the Chinese Society of International Law.  He has represented his country at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, the informal consultations of the Secretary-General on part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and annual sessions of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

Budget of Tribunal

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea was established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.  The Tribunal holds its meetings and hears cases at its seat in Hamburg, Germany.

During 2000, the Tribunal delivered judgements in Case No. 5, Camouco Case (Panama v. France), and Case No. 6, Monte Confurco Case (Seychelles v. France).  Both cases dealt with requests for the prompt release of vessels.  In 2001, the Tribunal ruled on the case of the Grand Prince (Belize v. France), which also concerned the prompt release of a vessel.

Among the cases the Tribunal heard during the period under review was a request made by Chile and the European Community urging a special chamber to deal with their dispute concerning the conservation and sustainable exploitation of swordfish stocks in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean.  The case was entered into the List of Cases as Case No.7.  By an order dated 20 December 2000, the Tribunal formed a Special Chamber to deal with the dispute.

Following intensive negotiations between the Parties, the European Community and Chile reached an arrangement on the swordfish dispute.  In accordance with that arrangement, proceedings before the Tribunal will be suspended, pending the enforcement of the arrangement which covers bilateral and multilateral scientific and technical cooperation, as well as access to ports.

The proposed budget for 2002 is based on the principle of zero growth.  It amounts to a total of $7,807,500.  The budget for 2001 totalled $8,090,900.

The proposed budget envisages the convening of meetings of the Tribunal for 10 weeks in 2002, six weeks to deal with cases and four weeks for other purposes such as preparation of budget proposals, adoption of an annual report to the Meeting of States Parties, and consideration of organizational and procedural matters related to the work of the Tribunal.  The budget envisages two sessions of the Tribunal to be held in conjunction with deliberations related to cases, and two further meetings to carry out other functions.

The proposed budget includes an annual remuneration of judges in the amount of $1,295,100, in addition to $318,000 in special allowances and $120,000 in travel for the judges.  It also covers $2,187,700 for established posts, $100,000 for general temporary assistance, $50,300 for overtime and $94,700 for official travel.  In addition, the budget allocates $129,000 for temporary assistance for meetings.

The budget proposes an increase of one P-3 Professional post (translator/reviser).

The budget proposal notes that on 27 November 2000 the Tribunal moved from its temporary location to its permanent premises in Hamburg.  Pursuant to the Premises Agreement between the Tribunal and the host country, the Tribunal is now responsible for all maintenance of the buildings and the grounds, as well as operational expenses.  The budget allocates $698,300 for the maintenance of premises, a $173,300 increase over the amount allocated in 2001.

The budget also includes $894,300 in contingency funds.  The contingency fund was established by the Ninth Meeting of States Parties to cover unforeseen case-related expenses.  The proposed budget for 2002 would meet the contingency of six weeks of meetings, including the costs of hearings, deliberations and judgements.

Status of Contributions

As of 31 December 2000, 58 States parties had made their contributions to the 2000 budget of the Tribunal in the full amount assessed or more, totalling $7,033,073.  Sixteen States parties had made partial contributions totalling $154,094, while 61 others had not made any payments with respect to their assessed contributions. The balance of unpaid contributions to the 2000 budget is $663,724.  Furthermore, the Tribunal’s annual report states that the balance of unpaid contributions with respect to the 1996/1997, 1998 and 1999 budgets totalled $1,393,927.

Financial Issues

The eleventh meeting will also consider a draft containing revised financial regulations of the Tribunal, which take account of the outcome of discussions during the last two meetings and of the various proposals put forward.  Among them was the presentation of the draft budget of the Tribunal under a "split-currency system" (dollar and the euro) and the contributions to be made by the international organizations that are parties to the Convention.  There was also a proposal that decisions on budgetary and financial matters should be taken by a three-fourths majority of States parties present and voting, provided that such majority included States parties contributing at least three fourths of the expenses of the Tribunal and a majority of the States parties participating in the meeting.  While some delegations supported the proposal, others said it amounted to weighted voting which violated principles followed by the United Nations and its organs.

Matters Related to Article 319 of Convention

Article 319 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea spells out the so-called depositary functions of the Secretary-General.  The article also spells out additional responsibilities entrusted to him under the Convention, including an obligation to report to all States parties, the International Seabed Authority and competent international organizations on issues of a general nature that have arisen with respect to the Convention.

At the Tenth Meeting of the States Parties, Chile had proposed that a new item be included on the agenda of the Meeting, entitled either “Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” or “Issues of a general nature related to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”.  Under the proposal, the Secretary-General would submit an annual report to the Meeting of States Parties on issues of a general nature that had arisen with respect to the Convention.

In addition, the proposal provided that the meeting should be informed of the work of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and the International Seabed Authority, without prejudice to their sphere of autonomy and the necessary confidentiality.

During the debate on this proposal, a number of delegations expressed their support and agreed that the Meeting of States Parties was the only competent body responsible for taking decisions on issues relating to the implementation of the Convention.  Those delegations argued that the role of the Meeting should not be confined to dealing with only budgetary and other administrative matters.

Other delegations, however, emphasized the mandate given to the General Assembly in the review of all issues relating to ocean affairs and the law of the sea.  They argued that an expansion of the mandate of the Meeting of States Parties beyond budgetary and administrative matters would not be in keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Extension of Continental Shelf Time Limit

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for coastal State jurisdiction over the resources of its continental shelf.  Although such jurisdiction is generally up to a limit of 200 nautical miles, coastal States meeting certain criteria established in article 76 of the Convention may extend their jurisdiction beyond this 200 nautical mile limit.  A State intending to establish a continental shelf limit beyond 200 nautical miles is required by the Convention to submit certain scientific and technical data to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf within 10 years of the entry into force of the Convention for that State.

At the Tenth Meeting of the States Parties, it was suggested by some delegations that difficulties faced by certain countries, particularly developing countries, in complying with the 10-year time limit be considered by the Meeting of States Parties.  One delegation suggested that in view of the limited technical expertise of certain developing countries, the meeting should consider means by which assistance could be provided with respect to the scientific and technical expertise required by those preparing submissions.  It was also suggested that the meeting consider an extension of the time limit.  The meeting decided to include the issue on its agenda for this year and will have before it a background paper on this subject prepared by the Secretariat.

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