Round-Up Release

COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF CONCLUDES TWENTIETH SESSION

NEW YORK, 18 September (DOALOS) -― The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf [hereinafter:  the Commission] held its twentieth session at United Nations Headquarters from 27 August to 14 September, pursuant to the decision taken at its nineteenth session (CLCS/54, paragraph 66) and on the basis of General Assembly resolution 61/222.  During the session, apart from the work carried out in plenary meetings, the Commission also proceeded with the technical examination of submissions made by coastal States in accordance with article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea at the Geographic Information System (GIS) laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs (DOALOS).

The twentieth session of the Commission was the first one with the new membership which was elected at the seventeenth meeting of States parties for a term of five years commencing on 16 June 2007 and ending on 15 June 2012:  Alexandre Tagore Medeiros de Albuquerque (Brazil), Osvaldo Pedro Astiz (Argentina), Lawrence Folajimi Awosika (Nigeria), Harald Brekke (Norway), Galo Carrera Hurtado (Mexico), Francis L. Charles (Trinidad and Tobago), Peter F. Croker (Ireland), Indurlall Fagoonee (Mauritius), Mihai Silviu German (Romania), Abu Bakar Jaafar (Malaysia), George Jaoshvili (Georgia), Emmanuel Kalngui (Cameroon), Yuri Borisovitch Kazmin (Russian Federation), Wenzheng Lu (China), Isaac Owusu Oduro (Ghana), Yong-ahn Park (Republic of Korea), Fernando Manuel Maia Pimentel (Portugal), Sivaramakrishnan Rajan (India), Michael Anselme Marc Rosette (Seychelles), Philip Alexander Symonds (Australia) and Kensaku Tamaki (Japan).

Before assuming his duties, each member made a solemn declaration, in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Commission.

On the first day of the session, the Commission elected by acclamation Alexandre Tagore Medeiros de Albuquerque as Chairman, and Lawrence Folajimi Awosika, Harald Brekke, Yuri Borisovitch Kazmin and Yong-ahn Park as Vice-Chairmen.

The partial change in membership of the Commission that resulted from the elections held at the seventeenth meeting of States parties rendered it necessary to fill some vacancies in the subcommissions currently in existence.  Following consultations, the Commission appointed:

(i)   Sivaramakrishnan Rajan and Michael Anselme Marc Rosette to fill the vacancy in the subcommission established for the examination of the submissions made, respectively, by Australia and by New Zealand;

(ii)  Francis L. Charles to fill the vacancy in the subcommission established for the examination of the submission made by France, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the submission made by Norway.

At the twentieth session, the Commission began the examination of the submission made by France.  The submission by France is the eighth one to be received by the Commission.

The submission made by France, on behalf of the Overseas Department of French Guiana and of the Territorial Collectivity of New Caledonia, was a partial submission divided in two sections containing data and information concerning the outer limits in the areas of, respectively, French Guiana and the south-east and south-west of New Caledonia.

The French submission was presented at the plenary part of the session, by the Delegation of France headed by Elie Jarmache on 31 August.

After this presentation, the Commission decided that the submission of France would be examined through the establishment of a subcommission.  For this purpose a subcommission was established with the following members:  Osvaldo Pedro Astiz, Harald Brekke, Galo Carrera Hurtado, Emmanuel Kalngui, Wenzheng Lu, Isaac Owusu Oduro and Yong-ahn Park.  The subcommission elected Galo Carrera Hurtado as Chairman and Osvaldo Pedro Astiz and Yong-ahn Park as Vice-Chairmen.  The subcommission determined that it would continue its work during the twenty-first session.

At the twentieth session, the Commission continued the examination of the submissions made by Australia, New Zealand, Norway and the joint submission by France, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  The subcommissions which had been established at the previous sessions to examine those submissions reported to the Commission on the work that they had carried out intersessionaly and continued the examination of their submissions.

The Commission decided that its twenty-first session would be held from 17 March to 18 April 2008 and the twenty-second session would be held from 11 August to 12 September 2008, on the understanding that the following periods will be for plenary meetings:  31 March to 11 April and 18 to 29 August and that the following periods will be used for the technical examination of submissions at the Geographic Information System laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division:  17 to 18 March; 14 to 18 April; 11 to 15 August; 2 to 12 September.

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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