Round-Up Release

COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF CONCLUDES TWENTY-THIRD SESSION

NEW YORK, 9 April (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) -- The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (the Commission) held its twenty third session at United Nations Headquarters from 2 March to 9 April, pursuant to the decision taken at its twenty-second session (CLCS/60, paras. 62-63) and on the basis of General Assembly resolution 63/111 (para. 49).  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 (the Convention) 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 (the Division).

At the twenty-third session, the Commission received the submissions made by Indonesia on 16 June 2008, Japan on 12 November 2008 and Mauritius and Seychelles on 1 December 2008.  These submissions are the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth, respectively, to be received by the Commission.  For information on these and previous submissions received by the Commission, please visit the website of the Commission at http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm.

The submission by Indonesia was presented to the Commission on 24 March 2009, during the plenary part of the session by the delegation of Indonesia, headed by Arif Havas Oegrosseno, Director General for Legal Affairs and Treaties, Department of Foreign Affairs.  The submission made by Indonesia was a partial submission relating to the continental shelf of North West of Sumatra Island.  The Commission decided that the submission of Indonesia would be addressed through a subcommission.

The submission by Japan was presented on 25 March 2009, during the plenary part of the session, by the delegation of Japan headed by Ambassador Yukio Takasu.  The Commission decided that the submission of Japan would be addressed through a subcommission.

The joint submission by Mauritius and Seychelles was presented to the Commission on 26 March 2009, during the plenary part of the session, by the delegations of Mauritius and Seychelles, headed respectively by Arvin Boolell, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade of Mauritius and Patrick Pillay, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Seychelles.  The joint submission by Mauritius and Seychelles was a partial submission relating to the continental shelf in the region of the Mascarene Plateau.  The Commission decided that the joint submission of Mauritius and Seychelles would be addressed through a subcommission.

The Commission continued the examination of the joint submission by France, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as the submissions made by Norway, France and Mexico.  The Subcommissions which had been established at previous sessions to examine those submissions continued the examination of the submissions and reported to the Commission on the work that they had carried out.  In particular, the Subcommission established to consider the joint submission made by France, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom, and the Subcommissions established to consider the submissions made by Norway and Mexico submitted their recommendations to the Commission.  The Commission adopted the above recommendations prepared by the subcommissions.

The Commission established three new Subcommissions to consider the submissions made by Barbados, the United Kingdom (Ascension Island) and Indonesia. The three newly established Subcommissions met during the twenty-third meeting, after the plenary session.

During the session, the Director of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea provided the members of the Commission with an update concerning the activities carried out by the Division with regard to training courses for delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles and for the preparation of a submission to the Commission, as well as an update regarding the status of relevant trust funds.

The Commission decided that it would resume its twenty-third session from 3 to 7 August 2009.  The twenty-fourth session of the Commission will be held from 10 August to 11 September 2009, on the understanding that the periods from 24 August to 4 September would be for plenary meetings and that the periods from 10 to 21 August and from 8 to 11 September 2009 would be used for the technical examination of submissions at the GIS laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division.

For information on the history and purpose of the Commission, or additional information, please visit the Commission’s website at www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm.

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For information media • not an official record