TWELFTH MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON LAW OF SEA, HEADQUARTERS, 16 - 26 APRIL

Background Release

TWELFTH MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON LAW OF SEA,

HEADQUARTERS, 16 - 26 APRIL

To Elect Members of International Tribunal for Law of Sea and Commission

On Limits of Continental Shelf; Approval of Tribunal Budget Also Expected

Marking the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the States Parties to that Convention will hold their Twelfth Meeting at Headquarters from 16 to 26 April.  Among the matters before them will be the election of new members to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea as well as to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. 

Also on the agenda, as in previous years, will be the approval of the Tribunal’s budget and the continued consideration of the Tribunal’s draft financial regulations (document SPLOS/WP.17).  The Meeting might also continue its consideration of issues related to functions of the Meeting of States Parties in relation to the provisions of article 319 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Convention

Adopted on 10 December 1982, the Convention was described as "possibly the most significant legal instrument of the century", representing an unprecedented attempt to comprehensively regulate a range of maritime issues from navigational rights and territorial limits to management of marine resources and protection of the sea's environment.  There are presently 138 parties to the Convention, comprising 137 States and one entity, the European Union.  The meetings of the States Parties are convened by the Secretary-General under article 319 of the Convention.

International Tribunal for Law of Sea

The International Tribunal, established by the Convention, is one of the dispute-settlement forums to which parties might submit their disputes.  It has exclusive jurisdiction in disputes concerning deep seabed mineral resources,

provides advisory opinions when called upon to do so, and may be called upon to prescribe injunctive relief or provisional measures before a case or dispute was to be decided on the merits.  Most often, the Tribunal’s injunctive and provisional measures have been directed at cases involving the detention of vessels and their crew.  The Tribunal holds its meetings and hears cases at its seat in Hamburg, Germany.  It is composed of 21 members (judges) elected to nine-year terms.

The Tribunal dealt with three cases submitted to it in 2001.  It delivered judgement on the "Grand Prince" Case (Belize v. France).  The "Chaisiri Reefer 2" Case (Panama v. Yemen) was removed from the list of cases following an agreement between the parties.  The Tribunal also delivered its Order in the MOPX Plant Case (Ireland v. The United Kingdom), concerning environmental issues.

Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf

The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is one of the three major bodies established by the Convention.  The Commission reviews and makes recommendations on applications of coastal States whose continental shelf boundary extends beyond 200 nautical miles.  The Commission and States are guided by a set of criteria outlined in article 76 of UNCLOS.  These guidelines establish the technical and scientific criteria that are to be met before approval of a continental shelf boundary beyond 200 nautical miles.

Thus far, the Russian Federation is the only State to submit an application for extended continental shelf jurisdiction.  The Commission, working through one of its sub-commissions, is currently studying the Russian submission.

Elections to Tribunal

In addition to the regular elections scheduled for this Meeting of States Parties, a special election will be held to fill a vacancy left by the death of Judge Edward A. Laing on 11 September 2001, whose term was to expire on

30 September 2002.  Thus far, only one candidate has been put forward for that position -- Lennox Fitzroy Ballah (Trinidad and Tobago).

With respect to the regular elections scheduled for this year, the triennial election of seven members for new terms will also take place at the forthcoming meeting.  The curricula vitae of candidates for those posts are contained in document SPLOS/78.

Elections to Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf

States Members will also be electing the total membership of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.  That Commission consists of 21 members, experts in geology, geophysics and hydrography, elected by States Parties to a term of five years.  The first election of all Members was held in 1997.  The list of candidates is contained in document SPLOS/79 and their curricula vitae will be circulated in document SPLOS/81.

Budget of Tribunal

Despite a growing workload, increased staff and greater outlay for premises, the Tribunal’s proposed budget for 2003 is in line with the principle of zero growth.  It amounts to a total of $7,798,300, or $9,200 less than the approved appropriation of $7,807,500 for 2002.

The proposed budget envisages meetings of the Tribunal during a total of   10 weeks in 2003.  This includes six weeks to deal with cases and four weeks for other purposes such as supervision of the work of the registry, adoption of budget proposals, adoption of the annual report to the Meeting of States Parties, and consideration of organizational and procedural matters.  The budget envisages the possibility of two urgent proceedings, including six days of hearings.  For this purpose, a contingency provision is again being proposed.

The budget proposal includes a total provision for the remuneration and allowances of judges, including their pensions and travel, in the amount of $2,704,600.  This figure includes $808,600 to meet expenditures related to cases.

Financial Issues

Also before the States Parties will be the draft financial regulations of the Tribunal (SPLOS/WP.17), which contains a comparative table outlining the proposed regulations, as well as the relevant regulations of the United Nations and the International Seabed Authority.  The draft financial regulations of the Tribunal already take into account the discussions that took place in previous meetings and of the various proposals put forward on the issue. 

Among those proposals 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. 

Matters Related to Article 319 of Convention

Article 319 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea spells out responsibilities entrusted to the Secretary-General 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 policy nature that have arisen with respect to the Convention.

The perceived lack of a forum for discussion and coordination of such issues, under the framework of the Convention, had been identified by the Secretary-General as one factor that has prevented the emergence of more efficient and results-oriented ocean policies.  As a result, the United Nations Consultative Process on Ocean Affairs was established by the General Assembly in 1999. 

The third meeting of that consultative process, meeting from 8-15 April, is focused on the protection of the marine environment, regional capacity-building and integrated ocean management.  It considered the Secretary-General's report on oceans and the law of the sea (document A/57/57).

To incorporate such issues in the Meeting of States Parties, Chile had proposed, at the Tenth Meeting, that a new agenda item be included at future Meetings.  It would be 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 his annual report on relevant issues of a general policy nature to the Meeting of States Parties itself.

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

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.  An expansion of the mandate of the Meeting of States Parties beyond budgetary and administrative matters, they argued, would not be in keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Issues with Respect to Article 4, Annex II of Convention

Under article 4 of annex II to the Convention, a coastal State intending to establish the outer limits to its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles was obligated to submit particulars of such limits to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf along with supporting scientific and technical data as soon as possible but in any case within 10 years of the entry into force of the Convention for that State.

At their eleventh Meeting, the States Parties noted that many countries would not be able to make a submission within the 10-year time frame stipulated in the Convention for reasons of capacity, financial and technical resources; as well as the lack of settlement of key jurisdictional boundaries and the complexity of the technical issues involved.

The Meeting generally supported a step-by-step approach to the issues raised with respect to article 4 of annex II to the Convention.  The first step was to address the issue of selecting the date for calculating the 10-year time limit, which could be done at the present Meeting of States Parties.  The second step was to deal with the issue of a possible extension of the 10-year time limit, which required a sound legal solution on the substance of the matter and on the procedures to be followed.

Many delegations agreed that the starting date should be 13 May 1999, the date of adoption of the Scientific and Technical Guidelines, which also marked the completion of the three basic documents of the Commission; the other two being its Rules of Procedure and its modus operandi.  They pointed out that a State which for economic, financial or technical reasons was able to make only a partial submission within the 10-year time period should be viewed as having complied with the requirements of article 4 of annex II to the Convention.

For its part, the Meeting adopted a decision by which a State for which the Convention entered into force before 13 May 1999, the date of commencement of the 10-year time period for making submissions to the Commission is 13 May 1999. 

The Meeting may still be called upon to address other issues related to the requirement for submissions to the Commission within a specific time period.  Those issues may involve technical assistance to States, as well as the question of whether a partial submission could be made.

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