Background Press Release

COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF TO HOLD EIGHTEENTH SESSION

FROM 21 AUGUST TO 15 SEPTEMBER 2006

 

NEW YORK, 16 August 2006 (United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea/DOALOS) –- The General Assembly at its sixtieth session approved the convening of the eighteenth session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf [hereafter: “the Commission”] from 21 August to 15 September 2006 on the understanding that the periods from 23 August to 5 September and from 11 to 15 September 2006 will be used for the technical examination of submissions at the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.  The plenary meetings will be held from 21 to 22 August and from 6 to 8 September 2006.

At this session, the Commission will continue the examination of the submissions made by Brazil, Australia and Ireland.  In addition, the Commission will begin the examination of the submission made by New Zealand and the partial joint submission made by Ireland, France, Spain and the United Kingdom.  After the submissions made by the Russian Federation in 2001, Brazil and Australia in 2004 and Ireland in 2005, the submission of New Zealand and the partial joint submission by Ireland, France, Spain and the United Kingdom are, respectively, the fifth and sixth received by the Commission.

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 [hereafter: “the Convention”], 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 10-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 [hereafter “the Guidelines”] on 13 May 1999 that States had before them the basic documents concerning the preparation of submissions.  The eleventh Meeting decided that: “in the case of a State Party for which the Convention entered into force before 13 May 1999, it is understood that the 10-year time period referred to in article 4 of annex II to the Convention shall be taken to have commenced on 13 May 1999” (document SPLOS/72).

As provided by Article 5 of annex II to the Convention, “unless 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”.  All three submissions currently under examinations are being considered by Subcomissions.  At the eighteenth session, the Commission may establish two additional Subcommissions to examine the new submissions.

The submission made by Ireland, France, Spain and the United Kingdom is the first joint submission made to the Commission.  This possibility is envisaged by paragraph 4 of annex I to the rules of procedure of the Commission, according to which, “Joint […] submissions to the Commission requesting the Commission to make recommendations with respect to delineation may be made by two or more coastal States by agreement: (a) Without regard to the delimitation of boundaries between those States; or (b) Having indicated by means of geodetic coordinates the extent to which a submission is without prejudice to the matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries with another or other States Parties to this Agreement.”  This joint submission is the second submission of a partial nature to be 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.”

At the eighteenth session, the Commission will also deal with procedural and organizational issues.  In particular, the Commission will discuss the preparation of a revised version of its rules of procedure in order to align that document (CLCS/40) with the amendments to rule 52 adopted at the last session (see CLCS/50, paragraphs 31-45).

The Commission will also consider training issues and will be briefed on the capacity-building activities carried out by DOALOS. 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, four United Nations training courses for developing countries with potential for extended continental shelf were organized in the last two years.  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, the second in cooperation with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Government of Sri Lanka from 16 to 20 May 2005 in Sri Lanka, the third with the cooperation of the Government of Ghana and the Commonwealth Secretariat, and with the support of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Ghana from 5 to 9 December 2005 the fourth in collaboration with the Government of Argentina and with the support, among others, of the Commonwealth Secretariat, for the Latin American and Caribbean region from 8 to 12 May 2006 in Argentina.

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

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For information media • not an official record