Meeting of States Parties

to Law of Sea Convention

99^th & 100^th Meetings (AM & PM)

president of international tribunal for law of sea briefs states parties

on judicial body’s workings, presents ‘guide to proceedings’

Meeting Appoints Nine Members to Its Credentials Committee

States parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea continued its sixteenth Meeting today with a briefing by the President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on the manner in which cases were instituted and conducted before that international judicial body.

One of the three institutions established under the Convention, the Hamburg-based Tribunal adjudicates disputes arising from the interpretation and application of the Convention.  The Guide to Proceedings, produced in response to the interest generated by proceedings before the Tribunal, provides advocates, counsel and government legal advisers with information on the principal features of contentious proceedings regarding the merits, incidental proceedings, prompt release applications, requests for the prescription of provisional measures and advisory proceedings.

Presenting the States parties with the Guide, Tribunal President Rüdiger Wolfrum said that body was different from other international tribunals in that access was reserved for States, international organizations and, under certain conditions, private entities.  Traditional cases before the Tribunal would be those involving continental shelf delimitation, while others would be cases relating to freedom of navigation and competing uses of the ocean, among others.

Proceedings before the Tribunal were both written and oral, he said, adding that after written proceedings had been filed, so-called initial deliberations were held.  Oral proceedings were quite extensive, lasting up to four or five days.  Other matters before the Tribunal would be prompt release proceedings.

Austria’s representative, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said that regional organization attached great importance to the effective functioning of international judicial bodies.  It had taken some 10 years to educate the public about a new judicial tool, the Court of Human Rights, and the European Union, therefore, welcomed the Guide as one way to raise awareness about the Tribunal’s procedures.  The European Union supported further initiatives to make its work better known to the wider public.

The representatives of Croatia, Philippines and the Netherlands also took the floor to thank the President for a lucid presentation.

Asked to elaborate on the issue of prompt release, Mr. Wolfrum said that article 292 of the Convention referred to cases where ships were arrested, and States were under obligation to provide for the prompt release of crew upon posting a reasonable bond.  The basic idea was that it was part of a compromise that gave coastal States considerable power to control fishing and the environment.  Article 292 was not meant to curtail those powers, but to give a State the right to enforce its rules concerning fishing, and to ensure that a ship, while waiting for national proceedings, could continue fishing or shipping.

Also today, the States parties received an update on the ongoing consultations regarding proposals to address the increasing workload facing the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, the body responsible for the delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

In other business this morning, the States parties appointed the following members to the Credentials Committee:   Zimbabwe, Senegal, Cyprus, Viet Nam, Albania, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Having entered into force in 1994, the Convention governs all aspects of ocean space and maritime issues, ranging from navigational rights, maritime limits and marine scientific research to management of resources, protection of the marine environment and settlement of disputes.

In addition to the Tribunal and the Commission, the Convention also provided for the establishment of the International Seabed Authority, which organizes and controls activities regarding the deep seabed’s mineral resources.

The sixteenth Meeting of States parties will reconvene at a time to be announced.

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For information media • not an official record