COMMISSION ON THE LIMITS OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF TO HOLD SIXTEENTH SESSION FROM 29 AUGUST TO 16 SEPTEMBER 2005

Background Release

COMMISSION ON THE LIMITS OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF TO HOLD

SIXTEENTH SESSION FROM 29 AUGUST TO 16 SEPTEMBER 2005

NEW YORK, 23 August (UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) -- The sixteenth session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will be held from 29 August to 16 September 2005.  At this session, the Commission will begin the examination of the submission by Ireland.  After the Russian Federation in 2001, and Brazil and Australia in 2004, Ireland is the fourth 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.

The submissions to the Commission are made pursuant to article 76, paragraph 8, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, which provides that if a coastal State intends to establish the outer limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, information on such limits “[…] shall be submitted by the coastal State to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. […] The Commission shall make recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of the outer limits of their continental shelf.  The limits of the shelf established by a coastal State on the basis of these recommendations shall be final and binding.”

Article 4 of annex II to the Convention establishes that a coastal State must make its submission “as soon as possible, but in any case within 10 years of the entry into force of this Convention for that State”.  However, as a result of a decision taken by the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention, the commencement of this ten-year period was postponed for some countries, in order to take into consideration that it was only after the adoption by the Commission of its Scientific and Technical Guidelines on 13 May 1999 that States had before them the basic documents concerning the preparation of submissions.  The eleventh Meeting decided that:  “[i]n the case of a State party for which the Convention entered into force before 13 May 1999, it is understood that the ten-year time period referred to in article 4 of annex II to the Convention shall be taken to have commenced on 13 May 1999” (SPLOS/72).

As required by the Rules of Procedure of the Commission (CLCS/40, rule 50), the executive summary of Ireland’s submission, including all charts and coordinates, was made public by the Secretary-General through a note verbale dated 25 May 2005, which was circulated to all States Members of the United Nations, including the States parties to the Convention.  The executive summary and the text of the note verbale were also posted on the website of the Commission, maintained by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS), www.un.org/Depts/los.

The submission of Ireland contains scientific and technical data and information on the proposed outer limits of the continental shelf of Ireland beyond 200 nautical miles in the portion of the continental shelf of Ireland abutting the Porcupine Abyssal Plain.  According to the submitting State, this is only a “partial” submission; the first of this kind received by the Commission.  According to paragraph 3 of annex I to the Rules of Procedure of the Commission:  “A submission may be made by a coastal State for a portion of its continental shelf in order not to prejudice questions relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States in any other portion or portions of the continental shelf for which a submission may be made later, notwithstanding the provisions regarding the ten-year period established by article 4 of annex II to the Convention.”

As provided by article 5 of annex II to the Convention, “[u]nless the Commission decides otherwise, the Commission shall function by way of subcommissions composed of seven members, appointed in a balanced manner taking into account the specific elements of each submission by a coastal State.”  At the sixteenth session the Commission will decide on the membership of a subcommission to be appointed for the examination of Ireland’s submission.

At the sixteenth session, the Commission will continue the consideration of the submissions by Brazil and Australia, which began, respectively, at the fourteenth and fifteenth sessions.  In addition, the Commission will consider training issues.  DOALOS, with the expert assistance of two members of the Commission, acting in their personal capacities, has prepared a training manual to assist States in developing the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare a submission in conformity with the Guidelines developed by the Commission.  On the basis of this manual, two United Nations training courses for developing countries with a potential extended continental shelf have already been conducted.  The first course was organized in cooperation with the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and the Commonwealth Secretariat, from 28 February to 4 March 2005, in Fiji, and the second in cooperation with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Government of Sri Lanka from 16 to 20 May 2005 in Sri Lanka.  Taking into account the feedback from these training courses, the manual is now being finalized, and will soon be made available to all interested States.  A third training course will be held in Ghana from 5 to 9 December 2005 for African States with a potential extended continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean, and a fourth course will be organized for the Latin American and Caribbean region in May 2006 in Argentina.

For information on the history and purpose of the Commission, see earlier press release SEA/1818 of 30 March 2005.  For additional information, please visit the website of the Commission at www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm.

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