COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF CONCLUDES SIXTEENTH SESSION

Round-up of Session

COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF CONCLUDES SIXTEENTH SESSION

NEW YORK, 23 September 2005 (DOALOS) -- The sixteenth session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf [hereafter:  the Commission] was held from 29 August to 16 September 2005.  The Legal Counsel, Nicolas Michel, addressed the Commission at its opening meeting.

In his statement, inter alia, he pointed out that as the Commission started considering a new submission at each session, matters were becoming more complex and the Commission’s workload had been increasing at a steady pace.  He also referred to an information note prepared by the Secretariat in response to the request by the Commission at its last session, containing proposals for the Commission’s consideration when discussing the text of internal guidelines, which would set ethical standards expected of the members of the Commission.  In addition, he addressed the subject of the support provided by the Secretariat to the Commission, recalling that the Secretariat had made significant efforts to accommodate the needs of the Commission, which will have to be done within the existing budgetary resources.

Finally, he made a reference to the successful delivery of the second regional training course for delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles and for preparation of submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, organized by DOALOS in cooperation with the Government of Sri Lanka in Colombo, from 16 to 20 May 2005.

At the sixteenth session, the Commission began the examination of the submission by Ireland.  After Russia 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. (See Press Release SEA/1837 dated 23 August 2005.)

Declan Smyth, head of the delegation of Ireland, presented the submission to the Commission.  The submission made by Ireland is the first one to be of a partial nature.  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.”

The Commission decided that the submission of Ireland would be addressed through the establishment of a subcommission.  The members of the subcommission for the consideration of the submission made by Ireland are:  Hilal Mohamed Sultan Al-Azri, Indurlall Fagoonee, Noel Newton St. Claver Francis, Mihai Silviu German, Abu Bakar Jaafar, Yuri Borisovitch Kazmin, and Philip Alexander Symonds.  The Subcommission elected Mr. Jaafar as its Chairman, and Mr. Kazmin and Mr. Francis as its Vice-Chairmen.

During this session, the Subcommission completed the preliminary examination of the submission, and had several meetings with the delegation of Ireland.  The Subcommission will reconvene in New York for another meeting from 23 to 27 January 2006, and also continue its work during the intersessional period.  The Subcommission will continue its examination of the submission during the seventeenth session of the Commission, which will take place from 20 March to 21 April 2006.

During the sixteenth session, the subcommissions, which had been established at the previous session to examine the submissions of Brazil and Australia, reported to the Commission on the work that they had carried out intersessionally and continued the examination of their submissions and met, respectively, with the delegations of Brazil and Australia.  Both subcommissions will continue the examination of the submissions during the seventeenth session of the Commission.

During the session the Commission also dealt with several organizational issues.  In particular, the Commission discussed the issue of the projected workload associated with the examination of the submission expected in the coming years and noted the need to increase the number or duration of sessions convened each year.  Because of constraints on time and funding to allow members of the Commission, whose participation is financed by their Governments, to spend an increased amount of time in New York, the Commission decided to bring this issue to the attention of the General Assembly and the Meeting of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

At the sixteenth session, the Commission adopted an “Internal code of conduct for members of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf”.

The Commission decided that two sessions would be held in 2006:  the seventeenth session would be held from 20 March to 21 April and the eighteenth session from 21 August to 15 September.

For history and purpose of the Commission, see earlier press release SEA/1818, and for additional information, visit the website of the Commission, maintained by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS):  www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm.

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For information media • not an official record