Oceans and Law of the Sea

The General Assembly in its resolution 64/71, of 4 December 2009, approved the convening by the Secretary-General of the twenty-sixth session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in New York from 2 to 27 August 2010. The plenary part of the twenty-sixth session will be held from 16 to 27 August.

States parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea concluded their twentieth Meeting this afternoon, approving the 2011-2012 budget for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, as well as salary increases for its judges, and recommendations on how the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf could better manage its burgeoning workload.

To confront growing threats and pressures from a wide range of issues facing the world’s oceans, countries will discuss ways to build up their capacities to address ocean affairs and the law of the sea, including marine science, at a meeting to be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 21 to 25 June.

Continuing its annual session this morning, the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea decided to nominate States with a permanent diplomatic or consular presence in Berlin or Hamburg as a member and alternate member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea’s Staff Pension Committee.

Continuing its annual session today, the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea heard a briefing by the President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, on that body’s draft budget proposals for 2011-2012, financial reports for the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 periods, and adjustments to the remuneration of its judges.

Killey Mwitasi of the United Republic of Tanzania has been awarded the twenty-third Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Fellowship on the Law of the Sea.

The twentieth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea opened today with a call for universal accession to that treaty, the election of several members of its Bureau and the adoption of the session’s provisional agenda.

The twentieth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will be held at Headquarters from 14 to 18 June.

Adopting its provisional final report by acclamation today, the Review Conference for the landmark 1995 Fish Stocks Agreement determined that implementation of the accord would be further strengthened by additional recommendations that built on outcomes adopted in 2006 and addressed, in some cases, new issues relevant to strengthening the substance and methods of implementation.

Participants in the Review Conference for the landmark 1995 Fish Stocks Agreement today examined draft outcomes for the five-day meeting in preparation for its final report tomorrow, with some praising the text as reflective of consensual elements raised throughout the week, and others anticipating a “bumpy ride ahead” for achieving agreement on recommendations to be made along four key themes.