COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF CONCLUDES FIFTEENTH SESSION

COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF CONCLUDES FIFTEENTH SESSION

NEW YORK, 29 April 2005 (DOALOS) – The fifteenth session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf [hereafter:  the Commission] was held at United Nations Headquarters from 4 to 22 April 2005.

The Legal Counsel, Nicolas Michel, addressed the Commission at its opening meeting.  In his statement he noted, inter alia, that the United Nations Secretariat had made substantial efforts in order to meet the growing technical needs of the Commission by expanding and upgrading the state-of-the-art facilities and premises of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS) [hereafter:  the Division] and expanding the staff servicing the Commission.  He also assured the Commission of the fullest cooperation of the Secretariat in fulfilling the mandate of the Commission and constant efforts to improve the existing facilities.  He referred to the training activities carried out by the Division and acknowledged the assistance provided by the members of the Commission in the preparation of the Training Manual for the delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf and for preparation of submissions to the Commission.  He mentioned that the Manual was the basis for the first training course conducted by the Division in Fiji in February-March 2005.  He also informed that the second training course -- for the countries of the Indian Ocean region -- will be held in May 2005 in Sri Lanka and that further training courses are planned for the West African region in December 2005 and for the Latin American and Caribbean region in the spring of 2006.

The Legal Counsel also referred to the increasing workload of the Commission and to its increasing visibility in political, scientific, and academic circles.  As more and more submissions are likely in the near future, Commission members may be invited more often to attend various forums, he added.  In that context, he advised that the Commission may draft guidelines for its members Commission to ensure the image and the standing of the Commission, as well as assure the impartiality of the Commission in the eyes of the international community.

At the fifteenth session, the Commission began the examination of the submission by Australia.  After the Russian Federation in 2001 and Brazil in 2004, Australia is the third country to make a submission to establish the outer limits of the continental shelf where it extends beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.  See Press Release SEA/1818 dated 30 March 2005.  Christos Moraitis, head of the delegation of Australia, presented the submission, with additional comments made by Bill Campbell, alternate head of delegation.  Australia, in its submission has included certain parts of Antarctica, which is covered by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty.  However, by a note verbale, Australia requested the Commission not to take any action for the time being with regard to the information in the submission that relates to continental shelf appurtenant to Antarctica.  This request was supported by communications addressed by the United States of America, Russian Federation, Japan, Netherlands, and Germany to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.  Accordingly, the Commission decided not to consider that part of the submission. 

The Commission elected a Subcommission, in accordance with its Rules of Procedure (Rules 42, and 51, paragraph 4), to report to the full Commission with its recommendations for action to be taken by the Commission regarding recommendations to the submitting State.  The members of the Subcommission for the consideration of the submission made by Australia are:  Alexandre Tagore Medeiros de Albuquerque, Harald Brekke, Indurlall Fagoonee, Fernando Manuel Maia Pimentel, Kensaku Tamaki, Naresh Kumar Thakur and Yao Ubuènalè Woeledji.  The Subcommission elected Mr. Brekke as its Chairman, and Mr. Albuquerque and Mr. Tamaki as its Vice-Chairmen.

During this session, the Subcommission completed the preliminary examination of the submission, and had several interactions with the Australian delegation.  The Subcommission will reconvene in New York for another meeting from 27 June to 1 July 2005 and also continue its work during the intersession period.  The Subcommission will continue its examination of the submission during the sixteenth session of the Commission, which will take place from 29 August to 16 September 2005.

During the fifteenth session, the Subcommission, which had been established at the previous session to examine the submission of Brazil, reported to the Commission on the work that it had carried out intercessional and continued its examination of the submission.  The Subcommission completed the second stage of its examination of the submission, during which it held one meeting with the Brazilian delegation, from which it received additional material, information and clarifications, on 22 April 2005.  It will continue its work intersessionally.  A resumed meeting will be convened from 22 to 26 August 2005.  The Subcommission will continue its examination of the submission during the sixteenth session of the Commission.

During the session the Commission also dealt with several organizational issues.  In particular, the Commission discussed the projected workload for the coming years vis-à-vis the limited resources and availability of time.  The Commission concluded that its Chairman will make a detailed presentation on this issue at the forthcoming Fifteenth Meeting of the States Parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

For history and purpose of the Commission see Press Release SEA/1818 of 30 March 2005.

The sixteenth session of the Commission is scheduled to be held from 29 August to 16 September 2005.  The Commission decided that two sessions would be held in 2006:  the seventeenth session would be held from 3 to 21 April; and the eighteenth session from 21 August to 8 September.

For additional information, visit the website of the Commission, maintained by DOALOS:  www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm.

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