Law of Sea Parties Approve Seating Allocation for Tribunal, Salary Increases for Judges, Defer Decision on Commission’s Workload, as Session Concludes

Meeting of States Parties

to Law of Sea Convention

132^nd & 133^rd Meetings (AM & PM)

LAW OF SEA PARTIES APPROVE SEATING ALLOCATION FOR TRIBUNAL, SALARY INCREASES

FOR JUDGES, DEFER DECISION ON COMMISSION’S WORKLOAD, AS SESSION CONCLUDES

(Issued on 29 June 2009.)

States parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea concluded their nineteenth meeting this evening by approving salary increases for judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and a new arrangement for allocating seats on the Tribunal and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, but failed to reach a decision on how best to cope with the Commission’s workload.

By the draft decision on the remuneration and pension of Tribunal members, States parties adjusted the salaries in line with those of the International Court of Justice judges.  Recalling that the fifteenth meeting had decided to increase Tribunal judges’ salaries and pensions as an interim measure pending a decision by States parties, effective retroactively from 1 June 2005, the current meeting decided to set, effective 1 July 2009, the annual net base salary of Tribunal members at $161,681, with a corresponding post adjustment multiplier equal to 1 per cent of the net base salary, to which would be applied the post adjustment multiplier for Hamburg.  Any future net base salary revisions of Court judges would be applied equally and at the same time to the Tribunal’s judges.  

Further to that text, States parties authorized the Tribunal to use part of the cash surplus from the 2007-2008 budget to finance an additional appropriation required to implement the new salary system for Tribunal members for the July 2009-December 2010 period.  They decided to maintain current retirement benefit regulations -- with benefits based on half of the judges’ annual salary -- as well as the maximum annual remuneration of $170,080 as the basis for pension payments.

States parties asked the Tribunal to make the necessary revisions to article 1, paragraph 2, of its Pension Scheme Regulations for members, and the Registrar to report to the meeting of States parties on action taken regarding those decisions.  Tribunal members who were re-elected would receive 1/300 of their retirement benefit for each month beyond nine years, up to a maximum pension of two-thirds of the annual net-based salary, excluding post adjustment.

In approving the draft decision (SPLOS/L.61), as orally amended, on seat allocation on the Tribunal and the Commission, States parties decided to elect members for each of those 21-member treaty bodies as follows:  five members from the Group of African States and the Group of Asian States; four members from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States; and three members each from the Group of Eastern European States and the Group of Western European and other States.  The remaining member of each treaty body would be elected from among the Group of African States, Group of Asian States and the Group of Western European and other States.  The above arrangements did not prejudice or affect future arrangements for elections.

That action followed a week-long protracted debate, in which delegates argued over whether to accept that decision, submitted by the Group of Western European and other States, or an alternate proposal of the Group of African States and the Group of Asian States, who in 2007 first introduced texts during the seventeenth meeting of States parties to alter the seat allocation, which they said would create a more equitable geographical balance, following additional accessions to the Convention. 

Charles Eden ( Trinidad and Tobago), who coordinated the informal consultations on that matter throughout the week, said all participants had expressed the need for the two bodies to be staffed by competent experts, while at the same time recognizing procedures under the Convention.  He noted that it had been a very difficult issue for States parties.  

Earlier in the day, prior to the action, several delegates from the Asian Group and the African Group said their original proposal in 2007 to rotate the remaining twenty-first seat on both bodies among themselves was in line with the principle of equitable geographic distribution, and that the subsequent proposal they presented during the present meeting was a fair compromise that met their Western European and other States partners halfway.  On the other hand, Norway’s representative said his Group’s proposal, in which that seat was floated among the three groups, was in fact a solution that took all views into account.

After the action, Egypt’s representative, speaking on behalf of the African Group, regretted that such lengthy negotiations had not resulted in a fully satisfactory solution for the African and Asian Groups.  The principle of equitable geographical representation should be based on numbers.  In the interest of saving time, however, she said she went along with the present proposal to prevent it from being sent to a vote. 

States parties also approved the proposal of the Tribunal President -- in an effort to collect contributions in arrears –- to surrender an additional 784,136 euros to States parties and deduct it from the contributions for 2010, in accordance with Regulation 4 of the Financial Regulation.

In addition, States parties approved the report of the Credentials Committee (SPLOS/198) on the credentials of representatives to the nineteenth meeting, which was introduced by that committee’s chairperson, Ceta Noland ( Netherlands).  In approving that report, the meeting accepted the credentials of 128 representatives, including the European Community, and it also accepted the credentials of Jordan, which were submitted late in a note verbale.

In other matters today, Douglas Stevenson, Director, Centre for Seafarers Rights at the Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey, drew attention to piracy -- a topic that had brought the most public attention to the Convention.  In 2008, at least 293 pirate attacks had occurred worldwide; 49 vessels had been hijacked, 46 other vessels had been fired upon, 889 seafarers had been taken hostage, 11 had been killed, 32 of them had been injured, and another 21 were still missing and presumed dead.  Some 111 of last year’s pirate attacks had occurred off the coast of Somalia.  That dramatic increase in piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast -– including the hijacking of vessels carrying World Food Programme aid to Somalia –- had prompted an extraordinary global response. 

He noted coordinated international action to end piracy by the Security Council and the recently-formed Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, among initiatives.  But most discussions and measures focused on preventing and suppressing piracy through the use of force, arming merchant ships, and prosecuting pirates, giving little attention to the fate of seafarers after being released.  Nor had any best practices for mariners’ welfare emerged.  The international community depended upon merchant mariners’ contribution to development and prosperity.  Nations must do everything possible to protect them from piracy -– before, during, and long after attacks. 

Saying in closing that it would have been difficult to achieve any results without the effective cooperation of all delegations, Meeting President Somduth Soborun ( Mauritius) noted withgreat satisfaction the support of the Bureau and all delegations for the President, which had led to agreement on several difficult issues.  The fact that joint efforts had culminated in agreement on an arrangement for the allocation of seats of the Commission and the Tribunal was particularly gratifying.  Equally, he hoped that the discussion on the Commission’s workload would lead the Committee to seek ways to best support the Commission in its challenging work.

The high level of participation of States parties and numerous observers had demonstrated the importance they gave to the Convention and its implementation.  Discussions of the report of the Secretary-General on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, which also served as his report under article 319 for information of States Parties on issues of a general nature relevant to States Parties that had arisen with respect to the Convention, had illustrated the numerous issues of concern to States Parties.  The President stressed the need to ensure that assessed contributions to the Tribunal and to the International Seabed Authority were paid in full and in a timely manner so that those institutions could discharge their functions effectively and efficiently.

Representatives of the following States parties were among those delegations who spoke today:   Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, and Switzerland.

Meeting Vice President Scott Sheeran ( New Zealand), who had coordinated informal consultations on the Commission’s workload, spoke at the closing meeting.

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For information media • not an official record