COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF AT HEADQUARTERS, 28 APRIL - 2 MAY; TO REVIEW PROCEDURES IN LIGHT OF EXAMINATION OF FIRST SUBMISSION

Background Release

COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF AT HEADQUARTERS, 28 APRIL - 2 MAY;

TO REVIEW PROCEDURES IN LIGHT OF EXAMINATION OF FIRST SUBMISSION

NEW YORK, 25 April (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) -– The twelfth session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will take place at Headquarters from 28 April to 2 May 2003.  This is the first session of the Commission to be held after its extensive examination of the submission of the Russian Federation of data and other material on the limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

The purpose of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is to facilitate the implementation of the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in respect of the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast.  Article 76 provides the complex formulae by which coastal States may establish those outer limits.

The tasks of the Commission are twofold:  to examine the submission and make recommendations to the coastal State, and to provide scientific and technical advice, if requested by the coastal State concerned during the preparation of that submission.  The Commission’s recommendations and actions are without prejudice to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts.  More than 30 States are said to possibly meet the requirements to take advantage of those provisions.

The continental shelf is defined in the Convention as the seabed and subsoil of submarine areas which, because of their geological characteristics, are considered as the natural prolongation of the continental or land mass beneath the oceans or seas to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.  The continental margin consists of the shelf, the slope and the rise.  It does not include the deep ocean floor with its oceanic ridges or the subsoil thereof.  The Convention gives coastal States sovereign rights to explore and exploit such resources, which have been estimated as being extremely valuable.

The submission by the Russian Federation, the first submission of a coastal State to the Commission, was made on 21 December 2001.  After a three-month interim prescribed by the Commission’s Rules of Procedure in order to advise the international community of the general contents and parameters of the submission, the Commission proceeded with its examination at the tenth and eleventh sessions.  Excerpts from the executive summary of the submission, including the coordinates of the outer limits of the continental shelf as proposed by the Russian

Federation, accompanied by illustrative maps, were circulated at the time of receipt to all States and to all members of the Commission.  This information was also posted on the Web site of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/commission_submissions.htm).

After the completion of its examination of the scientific data and other material included in the submission by the Russian Federation, the Commission adopted its recommendations on 27 June 2002, which were sent both to the Russian Federation and to the Secretary-General.  The Commission presented its recommendations in the four areas relating to the continental shelf extending beyond 200 nautical miles contained in the submission:  the Barents Sea, the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Central Arctic Ocean.  The Commission requested the Russian Federation to make a revised submission in certain areas.

The determination of the outer limit of the continental shelf of States is necessary to separate those areas that fall under national jurisdiction from those areas of the seabed which were proclaimed by the General Assembly, and later the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to be the common heritage of mankind.  The resources of the deep seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction are to be managed jointly by all States through the International Seabed Authority, an international organization also established by the Convention.

In light of the experience gained by the Commission with issues arising during the examination of the submission, the Commission will review and consider the possible consolidation of the texts of several documents governing procedural matters within the Commission, such as the Rules of Procedure (CLCS/3/Rev.3), the Modus Operandi (CLCS/L.3) and the Internal Procedure of the Subcommission of the Commission (CLCS/L.12).

Among other topics to be considered at the current session are issues of confidentiality relating to the consideration of the submissions and the legal nature and purpose of the recommendations made by the Commission to a coastal State.

Also on the agenda are training issues and the preparation of a training manual to assist developing States to prepare submissions to the Commission.  It is envisaged that the training manual will appear in the form of a kit, consisting of printed material and compact discs with maps, figures and interactive materials.

The Commission will also hear reports by the Chairpersons of its standing committees, namely, the Confidentiality Committee, the Editorial Committee, the Scientific and Technical Advice Committee, and the Training Committee.

This is the second session of the current five-year term of the Commission.  Elections for the membership took place at the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on 19 April 2002.  The

21 members of the Commission are experts in the field of geology, geophysics or hydrography, and are nominated and elected by States Parties to the Convention. 

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