Meeting of States Parties

to Law of Sea Convention

140^th & 141^st Meetings (AM & PM)

Convention on Law of the Sea Elects Bureau Members, Adopts Provisional Agenda

As It Begins Twenty-first Meeting of States Parties

 

Delegates Expected to Focus on Administrative,

Budgetary Questions on International Tribunal, Seabed Authority

With the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea steadily approaching universal participation, the twenty-first Meeting of States Parties to that treaty opened today with the election of several Bureau members and the adoption of the provisional agenda for its week-long session.

Scheduled to run through 17 June, the Meeting will focus on administrative and budgetary questions relating to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, information reported by the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority and the Chairman of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, and the election of seven Tribunal members.  (For summaries of key documents before the Meeting, see Press Release SEA/1952.)

Elected by acclamation as President of the Meeting, Camillo Gonsalves ( Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) underscored that the international community and individual States would benefit from a strong, universally accepted and implemented international legal regime applicable to oceans.  Indeed, it was essential for the maintenance of international peace and security, as well as the sustainable use of ocean resources, navigation and protection of the marine environment, he said.

Often referred to as “the constitution of the oceans”, the landmark Convention was adopted on 10 December 1982 and entered into force on 16 November 1994.  Its 320 articles and nine annexes govern all aspects of ocean space and maritime issues, from navigational rights, maritime limits and marine scientific research, to resource management, marine-environment protection and dispute settlement.  The Convention established the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Seabed Authority and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

Patricia O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, expressed satisfaction at the growing number of States parties to the Convention, which, with the recent ratifications by Malawi and Thailand, would reach 162.  “No doubt this number will continue to increase,” she added.

Noting that the total number of submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf currently stood at 56, with 10 more expected, she said that body’s workload clearly remained a critical issue.  To that end, the Informal Working Group, facilitated by the Bureau of the Meeting, had worked diligently, often in cooperation with the Commission and the Secretariat, to assess measures that may be necessary to address the workload.

The Commission had reiterated that the most efficient and effective way to address its growing workload was to work on a full-time basis at United Nations Headquarters, she recalled, pointing out the challenges posed by that option.  Discussions on the possibility of the Commission meeting for up to 26 weeks per year were continuing in the Informal Working Group, and should the Meeting adopt such a recommendation, with the General Assembly’s support, the Secretariat would need to address the associated financial and staffing implications, she said.

Ms. O’Brien went on to say that a special meeting of States parties would convene on 11 August to fill the vacancy caused by the untimely passing of Kensaku Tamaki ( Japan).  Delegates observed a moment of silence in Mr. Tamaki’s memory at the outset of today’s meeting.

Turning to the work of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, she highlighted the Advisory Opinion on the Responsibilities and Obligations of States sponsoring persons and entities with respect to activities in the seabed area, rendered in February by the Seabed Disputes Chamber.

She said the International Seabed Authority would resume work on its third set of Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Cobalt-Rich Ferromanganese Crusts in July.  Those important instruments would provide contractors with guidance on assessing the environmental impacts of exploration activities.

Before the Meeting adopted its provisional agenda (document SPLOS/L.67), the representatives of China and the Republic of Korea recalled the deferral of a decision on the proposal to include an item entitled “International Seabed Area as the common heritage of mankind and article 121 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” on the agenda, saying the item should thus be kept open.

Tribunal President José Luís Jesus ( Cape Verde), presenting that body’s 2010 annual report (document SPLOS/222), of which the Meeting took note, pointed out that Malawi and Thailand had ratified the Convention since the twentieth Meeting.  Of the 162 States parties, 44 had made declarations on the procedure for settling disputes over interpretation or application of the Convention.  Of those, 30 had selected the Tribunal to resolve disputes.  In addition, Ireland and France had become parties to the 1997 Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, bringing the total number of States parties to 40.

Summarizing the report’s main points, he said that, during its two sessions in 2010, the Tribunal had considered certain legal and judicial matters of relevance to its jurisdiction, rules and judicial procedures, as well as organizational, administrative and budgetary matters.  Its written proceeding concerning a dispute over the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal, which had begun in December 2009, was “running its course” and the final pleading should be filed by 1 July.  Oral proceedings were scheduled for September and judgement was expected during the first quarter of 2012.

In September 2010, he continued, the Tribunal’s Seabed Disputes Chamber had conducted a hearing on its first-ever advisory case, opened in May 2010 following a request by the International Seabed Authority for an advisory opinion on “the responsibilities and obligations of States sponsoring persons and entities with respect to activities in the international seabed area”.

He said that, in addition to nine States parties, the Authority, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources had participated in the hearing.  In February, the Chamber had issued its advisory opinion on that case, which was available on the Tribunal’s website.

Mr. Jesus said the Tribunal had also received a new case, noting that, on 23 November 2010, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had filed an application against Spain relating to their dispute over the latter’s arrest in February 2006 of the M/V Louisa, a Vincentian vessel.  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which maintained that the vessel had a valid permit from the coastal State to conduct scientific research on the sea floor in the Bay of Cadiz, had asked the Tribunal to award it damages of no less than $10 million, and to order Spain to release the vessel and return the property seized.  Spain, on the other hand, alleged that the vessel had been seized in the course of criminal proceedings for violating Spanish historical patrimony laws or marine-environment laws, and asked the Tribunal to reject the other State party’s request.  After holding oral proceedings on that case on 10 and 11 December 2010, the Tribunal had issued the relevant order on 23 December, and the written phase of those proceedings was scheduled to end by 10 November 2011, he said.

The President said the Tribunal had also considered the text of a July 2010 agreement with the United Nations extending the competence of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal to applications alleging non-compliance with the terms of appointment or employment contracts of the Registry’s staff members.

In 2010, he continued, the Tribunal had appointed three arbitrators and the president of the Annex VII arbitral tribunal set up to settle the dispute between Bangladesh and India over the delimitation of their maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.  This year, it had appointed three arbitrators and the president of the Annex VII arbitral tribunal set up to settle the dispute between Mauritius and the United Kingdom over the marine protected area relating to the Chagos Archipelago.

He went on to note that the Tribunal had established a voluntary trust fund for training in the law-of-the-sea and maritime fields.  It provided financial aid for applicants from developing countries to participate in the Tribunal’s Summer Academy and internship programme, in addition to covering related expenses.  To promote greater understanding of the dispute-settlement system created by the Convention, the Tribunal had also organized eight workshops for developing-world Governments’ legal professionals, which had been funded in part by the Korea International Cooperation Agency.

Commenting on the Tribunal’s annual report, several speakers welcomed the increasing number of cases brought before the body, as well as its first-ever advisory case and consequent advisory opinion.  China’s representative described the opinion as “balanced and practical”, while Japan’s delegate said that it indicated a standard of responsibility regarding protection of the environment.

Jamaica’s representative said the opinion created greater opportunities for other developing countries, while also drawing attention to the decision of the Non-Aligned Movement to call for a commemorative meeting of the General Assembly to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, on Monday, 10 December 2012.

On budgetary matters, Cuba’s representative said the Tribunal’s management-related expenses must be funded from the regular budget.  The representative of the European Union delegation, citing arrears of more than €470,000, noted with the concern that 44 States parties had not paid their 2010 assessed contributions.  She called on all States parties to pay in full and on time.

The representative of Bangladesh expressed hope that his country would shortly receive a decision on its maritime boundary dispute with India, and indeed, in the shortest time ever taken to decide such a dispute, in order to allow its exploration of sea resources essential to its economic growth.  Like others, Australia’s representative looked forward to the Tribunal’s upcoming decision on that boundary dispute, underlining the high level of confidence shown by Member States in the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.  Ghana’s representative said the number of African countries seeking a seat on the Tribunal was a testament to its importance.

States parties also took note of information reported by Nii Allotey Odunton, Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority, who said that the Authority’s advisory proceedings, which had resulted in its February 2011 advisory opinion on three legal questions relating to the obligations and responsibilities of States sponsoring activities in the seabed area, had dominated the Secretariat’s work during the second half of 2010.

The opinion, which provided important clarification on some of the most difficult aspects of the Convention and the 1994 Agreement, had been a milestone not only in the life of the Authority, but also that of the Law of the Sea.  He stressed the positive reaction from academia, Authority members and the seabed mining industry, also underlining it as an “encouraging sign”, not least because it suggested that the commercial sector was developing confidence in the legal regime for the orderly development of the seabed’s resources.

Turning to the Authority’s forthcoming seventeenth session, to be held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 11 to 22 July, he said it was likely to be one of the busiest in a number of years.  Among other details, he noted that the Legal and Technical Commission would commence its meeting a week before the main session, from 4 to 8 July, while the Assembly and Council, as well as the Finance Committee, would begin their meetings on 12 July.

During the session, he continued, elections would be held for members of the Legal and Technical Commission and the Finance Committee for the period 2012 to 2016.  Since a number of long-serving members had already served the maximum number of permitted terms, the elections were particularly significant, he said, adding that that was especially true of the Legal and Technical Commission, which was moving into a new, more substantive phase of its work.  A list of candidates for both bodies had been circulated to States parties and was available on the Authority’s website, he said, adding that copies would also be made available this week.

Most importantly, the Authority would consider four pending applications for exploration contracts, he said, emphasizing that the Authority had issued only eight such contracts since its establishment in 1994.  Two of the four new applications related to exploration of reserved areas by private-sector entities sponsored by developing States.  As such, they were the first of their kind, and thus represented a milestone for the Authority, he stressed.  The other two applications, sponsored respectively by China and the Russian Federation, were also ground-breaking in nature because they were the first relating to exploration for polymetallic sulphides, a new type of mineral resource for which the Authority had adopted regulations in 2010.

Together, those applications indicated a new commercial interest in deep seabed mining as an alternative source of the minerals needed to fuel economic development in many parts of the world, he said, noting, however, that while encouraging, investments originating from the private sector would inevitably be guided largely by financial considerations, including the impact of national taxation, payments to the Authority and debt financing.  “The responsibility of the Authority in these circumstances is to begin the process to develop fair and equitable policies and regulations for exploitation of marine minerals,” he said.  “This is a matter which needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.”

At the same time, the Authority was under increasing pressure to deliver an appropriate level of environmental protection, he pointed out.  It would consider such measures during its July session, including proposals for a regional environmental management plan for the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ) and proposals for the management of chemosynthetic environments in the global ocean.

Following the President’s presentation, Brazil’s representative said the Authority had the fundamental role of ensuring the establishment of an appropriate regulatory regime, which should provide, among other things, adequate “security of tenure” for future exploration for, and exploitation of, the Area’s mineral resources, while ensuring effective protection of the marine environment.  It was a priority of Brazil for an expert group meeting to be convened on the Authority’s implementation of article 82, paragraph 4 of the Convention.  Further, the Legal and Technical Committee must maintain an ample scope of expertise.

Other delegates said that outstanding questions concerned a determination of who would benefit from seabed mining, and how such benefits would be derived and distributed.  To that end, several representatives emphasized that the use of resources and scientific research in the Area must be carried out for peaceful ends and the benefit of humanity as a whole.  Companies must not be allowed to patent certain resources, one said, calling also for greater participation by scientists from developing countries.

Australia’s representative said that, while it was his delegation’s understanding that the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority currently considered it premature to develop regulations on exploitation of the Area’s resources, it was appropriate for the Secretariat to undertake a preliminary study for an exploitation code.

Mexico’s representative said that, as a threat to international peace and security, piracy and armed robbery on the high seas now affected a wider area and involved automatic weapons.  He, therefore, called for bolstering national legal systems, among other means to end the phenomenon.

Harald Brekke (Norway), Acting Chairperson of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, outlined the status of submissions during that body’s twenty-sixth session, held in 2010, and its twenty-seventh session, held from 7 March to 21 April, and resumed from 6 to 17 June.  Noting that the Commission had received 56 submissions and issued 14 recommendations thus far, he said the large number of submissions, their size and high scientific and technical complexity, and the fact that many of them had been submitted just a few weeks before the submission deadline of 13 May 2009, had greatly impacted the Commission’s work.

To address workload challenges, the Commission had extended to the maximum the work weeks of its subcommissions in New York and in the home countries, he said.  On five separate occasions since 2008, it had also invoked an exception provision in Rule 51 4bis in order to establish a fourth subcommission to consider submissions from Mexico, Indonesia, Japan, France and the Philippines.  Without more funding, however, the most important suggestions of the Informal Working Group, set up in 2009 to address the Commission’s increased workload, could not be implemented, he said.

The Commission maintained its position that working full-time at Headquarters, rather than the proposed six-month option, was the most efficient way to address the burgeoning workload.  “We need more time spent in New York in a more constructive way to address the workload,” he stressed, adding that the Commission should have more geographic information systems officers, three subcommissions and quarterly one-week plenary sessions.

Responding to that presentation, China’s representative noted that some submissions cited the existence of rock, which could not support human habitation, as justification for extending the limit of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, in clear violation of Article 121.  China had raised that issue not because it sought a specific submission, but because such situations touched on legal issues of general interest.

Indeed, it would not only be misleading, but would also have a negative impact on the legal resolution of issues if the Commission made a recommendation on the submission before the legal status of the rock was clearly defined, he said, stressing further that such a decision would create a precedent for claiming exclusive economic zones and infringe on the overall interest of the international community.  It was reasonable to take no decision on the rock at the present time, he said, adding that States parties must participate in such deliberations rather than leaving experts to tackle them alone.

In other business, the Meeting elected, by acclamation, Shazelina Zainul Abidin ( Malaysia), Ledia Hysi ( Albania), Sue Robertson ( Australia) and Yousouf Mohamed Ramjanally ( Mauritius) as Vice-Presidents.

It also approved a request by the Ocean Policy Research Foundation of Japan, on behalf of the Ship and Ocean Foundation, to attend the Meeting as an Observer.  A representative of the latter made a brief statement afterwards.

Also speaking today were representatives of Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Pakistan, Tunisia, Argentina, Germany, Fiji, Chile, India, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Guatemala, Morocco, Benin, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago and Japan.

The States parties will reconvene at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 14 June, to continue the twenty-first Meeting.

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For information media • not an official record