STATES PARTIES AGREE TO ESTABLISH REVIEW BODY FOR PROPOSED BUDGETS OF INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR LAW OF SEA

Meeting of States Parties

To Law of Sea Convention

55^th Meeting (AM)

STATES PARTIES AGREE TO ESTABLISH REVIEW BODY FOR PROPOSED BUDGETS

OF INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR LAW OF SEA

The Meeting of States parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea agreed this morning to establish an open-ended working group to review proposed budgets of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Agreement was reached following a suspension of this morning’s Meeting during which the States parties held consultations on the German proposal.  After the Meeting resumed, several delegations suggested amendments before agreeing on the final text.  It will be included as Rule 53 bis in the Rules of Procedure for Meetings of States parties (SPLOS/2/Rev.3).

The text reads: “Meetings of State parties at which financial and budgetary matters will be discussed shall establish, as a matter of priority, an open-ended working group which shall review the proposed budget of the Tribunal and make recommendations to the Meeting.  The working group shall be chaired by the President of the Meeting.  Decisions on budgetary and financial matters shall be based upon the recommendations of the working group.”

In other business this morning, the Meeting discussed the composition of its Credentials Committee and its Bureau.  The following countries would represent their regions on the Credentials Committee: Sierra Leone and Sudan (Africa); China and Indonesia (Asia); Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay (Latin America and the Caribbean); Romania (Eastern Europe); and Monaco and United Kingdom (Western Europe and other States).

Noting that the States parties would elect a judge tomorrow to fill a vacancy on the International Tribunal, Cristian Maquieira (Chile), President of the Meeting, called for the nomination of a second country to represent Eastern Europe.  He stressed the urgency of setting up the Credentials Committee before the election.

A meeting was scheduled for 3 p.m. today to complete the membership of the Credentials Committee.  The President also asked regional coordinators to nominate candidates for the Bureau of the Eleventh Meeting, which began yesterday.

Regarding financial issues, the representative of Japan said he had been informed that the Secretariat would distribute a paper on the Possible Scale of Assessment for the Tribunal’s 2002 budget.  The Japanese delegation would make an informal proposal on that matter this afternoon.

Also speaking this morning were the representatives of Germany, Sierra Leone, India, Portugal, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Spain, Ireland, Sweden, Viet Nam, Senegal and China.

The States parties will meet again this afternoon following informal consultations on the draft financial regulations of the Tribunal.

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