FOURTEENTH MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON LAW OF THE SEA AT HEADQUARTERS, 14-18 JUNE

FOURTEENTH MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION

ON LAW OF THE SEA AT HEADQUARTERS, 14-18 JUNE

To Consider Budget of International Tribunal, Receive Information about Work

Of International Seabed Authority, Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf

The fourteenth meeting of States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will be held at Headquarters from 14 to 18 June. 

Often referred to as “the constitution for the oceans”, the Convention was adopted on 10 December 1982 and entered into force 12 years later, on 16 November 1994.  The instrument comprises 320 articles and nine annexes, governing all aspects of ocean space and maritime issues, ranging from navigational rights, territorial limits and marine scientific research to management of resources, protection of the marine environment and settlement of disputes.

When the General Assembly commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the opening for signature of the Convention two years ago, Secretary-General Kofi Annan described it as “a milestone for the rule of law and the United Nations”, which established a legal framework of general principles and rules governing the division of ocean space and regulating all activities within it.  During the commemoration, the Assembly paid tribute to the individuals who contributed to the elaboration of the Convention.

The Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the Convention adopted in 1994 and the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the Convention relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, which was adopted in 1995 and entered into force in December 2001, complete the United Nations law of the sea “package”.  The three institutions established by the Convention are the International Seabed Authority, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

During this year’s meeting, the 145 States parties to the Convention will take up matters relating to the work of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.  They will also be informed by the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority and the Chairman of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf about current activities of these international bodies. 

International Tribunal for Law of Sea

At this meeting, States parties will have before them the annual report of the Tribunal for 2003 and its proposed budget for 2005-2006 (documents SPLOS/109 and SPLOS/2004/WP.1).

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea was established by the Convention to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the Convention.  It has exclusive jurisdiction in disputes concerning deep seabed mineral resources and provides advisory opinions when requested to do so.  The jurisdiction of the Tribunal is mandatory in cases relating to the prompt release of vessels and crews or with regard to requests for the prescription of provisional measures, pending the constitution of an arbitral tribunal.  The Tribunal holds its meetings and hears cases at its seat in Hamburg, Germany.  It is composed of 21 judges elected for nine-year terms.  For the period 2002-2005, the President of the Tribunal is L. Dolliver M. Nelson (Grenada), and the Vice-President Budislav Vukas (Croatia). The Registrar of the Tribunal is Philippe Gautier (Belgium).

During the period under review, the Tribunal held two sessions devoted essentially to administrative matters and legal matters not directly related to cases.  The fifteenth session of the Tribunal was held from 10 to 21 March 2003 and the sixteenth session from 8 to 19 September 2003.  The Tribunal met from 20 September to 8 October 2003 to deal with the case concerning land reclamation by Singapore in and around the Straits of Johor.  The judicial deliberations in the case were held in conjunction with the sixteenth session of the Tribunal.

During its seventeenth session, the Tribunal considered and approved the budget proposals for 2005-2006.  For the first time, the budget has been prepared in euros and covers a biennial financial period, in accordance with the financial regulations of the Tribunal, which were adopted at the thirteenth meeting of States parties in June 2003.  In line with the established practice, the budgetary requirements of the Tribunal for 2005-2006 are based on:  the expected volume of judicial work; the Tribunal’s administrative work; and the operation of the Tribunal’s premises.

The Tribunal’s proposed budget for 2005-2006 of 15,506,500 euros reflects an increase of 284,850 euros.  In line with past practice, the budget estimates in the 2005-2006 budget proposals envisage the possibility of two urgent proceedings each year.  Provision has been made for six weeks of meetings, including the time for hearings and deliberations and the rendering of orders and judgements, in each calendar year.  There is no request for any additional posts in 2005-2006.

In preparing the budget proposals for 2005-2006, the Tribunal has applied the principle of zero growth in respect of expenditures whenever possible.  However, the Tribunal is constrained to request an increase for reasons beyond its control, including the entitlement to a pension of seven judges whose terms of office expire in 2005, and increases of the standard costs for staff and common staff costs, as applied within the United Nations common system.  No appropriations are proposed to the Working Capital Fund, which was established to allow the Tribunal to deal with shortfalls in cash.  The Fund now stands at $1,150,000.

Budgetary Matters

By the terms of the draft decision on budgetary matters of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for 2004 (document SPLOS/L.38), in the event that the Tribunal is unable to meet approved expenditures for 2004 from appropriations made with respect to the budget lines “Established posts” and “Common staff costs”, the meeting of States parties would authorize the Registrar to incur expenditures to the extent that the shortfall in appropriations results from unforeseeable increases in daily subsistence allowance (DSA), salary costs and common costs, as applied within the United Nations common system.

In the event that the Tribunal is unable to meet approved expenditures for 2004 from appropriations made in the budget line “Maintenance of premises”, the meeting of States parties would also authorize the Registrar to incur expenditures to the extent that the shortfall in appropriations results from exchange-rate fluctuations.

Also, the meeting of States parties would authorize the Tribunal to finance overexpenditures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 by transfers between appropriation sections as far as possible and, if necessary, by using the savings from the financial period 2002.  The meeting would further decide that the Registrar shall report to the fifteenth meeting of States parties on any action taken pursuant to paragraph 3 above, together with the circumstances relating thereto. 

According to the draft decision on the appointment of the auditor for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for the financial year 2004 (document SPLOS/L.39), the meeting of States parties, pending the appointment of the auditor for the financial period 2005-2006 and subsequent periods, would decide that the International Tribunal shall appoint an internationally recognized firm of auditors to examine the financial statements of the International Tribunal for the financial year 2004.

Another report before the fourteenth meeting of States parties is entitled “Budget performance for 2003” (document SPLOS/112) and reviews action taken pursuant to the decision on budgetary matters for 2003 taken by the thirteenth meeting of States parties. 

According to the report, it was decided at that meeting that, in the event that the Tribunal is unable to meet approved expenditures for 2003 from appropriations made with respect to the budget lines “Established posts” and “Common staff costs”, the Registrar would be authorized to incur expenditures to the extent that the shortfall in appropriations results from unforeseeable increases in daily subsistence allowance, salary costs and common costs, as applied within the United Nations system.

It was also decided that, in the event that the Tribunal is unable to meet approved expenditures for 2003 from appropriations made in the budget line “Maintenance of premises”, the Registrar would be authorized to incur expenditures to the extent that the shortfall in appropriations results from exchange-rate fluctuations.  The States parties further authorized the Tribunal to finance such overexpenditures by transfers between appropriation sections as far as possible and, if necessary, by using the savings from the financial period 2002.  The Parties also decided that the Registrar would report to the fourteenth meeting on any action taken pursuant to that decision. 

The report indicates that expenditure under the section “staff costs” exceeded the amount appropriated by $628,782.

The report also finds that the budget line “Maintenance of premises” under the section “Operating expenditures” was overspent by $106,045, in 2003.  However, it was possible to achieve savings amounting to $87,234 in the other budget lines of this section.  As a consequence, the overexpenditure in the section “Operating expenditures” amounts to $18,811.

In accordance with the decision of the thirteenth meeting of States parties, the Tribunal decided to finance the overexpenditures for staff costs and operating expenditures by transfer between appropriations sections, as charted in the report.

A note by the Tribunal on reimbursement of national taxes (document SPLOS/2004/WP.3) contains the report to the fourteenth meeting of States parties, which addresses the issue of national taxes paid by staff members and members of the Tribunal on salaries and emoluments paid to them by the Tribunal.

The note states that steps have been taken to negotiate bilateral agreements concerning tax reimbursements by States which levy national taxes on remuneration paid by the Tribunal.  Pending the outcome of those negotiations, the Tribunal has included in its budget proposals for 2005-2006 a budget line to reimburse officials and members of the Tribunal for national taxes levied in respect of remuneration paid by the Tribunal.

The report of the external auditors for the financial year 2002, with financial statements of the International Tribunal as of 31 December 2002 (document SPLOS/110) is the final performance report on the use of the budget appropriations for 2002.  The report concluded that the financial statements presented fairly in all material respects the financial position of the Tribunal as of 31 December 2002, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and with the financial regulations of the United Nations which were applied mutatis mutandis.

Matters Related to Article 319 of Convention

Meetings of States Parties are convened pursuant to article 319 of the Convention, which spells out responsibilities entrusted to the Secretary-General, 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 meeting will continue a debate on its role in consideration of such general developments related to the Convention and to the law of the sea.

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