Meeting of States Parties

To Law of Sea Convention

59^th Meeting (PM)

STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION

ADOPT TRIBUNAL BUDGET FOR YEAR 2002

The Eleventh Meeting of States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea this afternoon adopted the 2002 budget for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea amounting to $7,807,500.

Adopting draft decisions on budgetary matters (document SPLOS/L.20), the meeting also approved $894,300 as contingency funds.  Those funds are to be used on cases being submitted to the Tribunal.  The States parties also approved $50,000 to be appropriated to the Working Capital Fund in order to build it up to the recommended level of $650,000.

The various amounts are to be financed by all States and international organizations that are parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In a related action, the representative of Japan withdrew his proposal that the ceiling rate on contributions to the Tribunal’s budget be reduced from 25 per cent to 22 per cent, owing to lack of consensus in consultations with other delegations.  He requested that the proposal be placed on the agenda of the Twelfth Meeting of the States parties.

Making a statement following adoption of the budget, the representative of the European Community said the organization had made an agreed contribution of $77,000, which was proportionate to the budget and correctly reflected last year’s contribution.

In another action, the Meeting approved the level of remuneration for ad hoc judges of the Tribunal.  States parties adopted the Tribunal’s opinion that the compensation should be consistent with the system of remuneration applicable to the elected members of the Tribunal.

When the States parties meet tomorrow afternoon, they are expected to consider matters relating to article 319 of the Convention, which spells out the depositary functions of the Secretary-General.  It also outlines additional responsibilities entrusted to him, 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.

The Eleventh Meeting of the States parties is scheduled to conclude tomorrow afternoon.

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