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The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea: The 1974 Caracas Session *

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2017

John R. Stevenson  and
Bernard H. Oxman
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Extract

Will there be a timely and successful conclusion to the Law of the Sea Conference? This is the basic question governments and interested members of the public are considering as they review the results of the organizational session of the Conference at UN Headquarters in New York from December 3 to December 15, 1973, and the first substantive session in Caracas from June 20 to August 29, 1974. During this review they face ever more pressing problems arising from the strategic, economic, scientific, and environmental use and importance of the oceans and ocean resources, intensified by growing concern with international trade and with supplies and prices of food and basic raw materials.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , January 1975 , pp. 1 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1975

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Footnotes

**

Of the Board of Editors. Ambassador, Special Representative of the President for the Law of the Sea Conference.

***

Assistant Legal Adviser for Oceans, Environment and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

*

This article is a sequel to Stevenson and Oxman, The Preparations for the Law of the Sea Conference, 68 AJIL 1 (1974). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of State or the U.S. Government.

References

1 A/CONF.62/C.2/WP.1.

2 A/CONF.62/C.3/L.17.

3 A/CONF.62/C.3/L.15.

4 A/CONF.62/30/Rev.l.

5 UN G.A. Res. 3067(XXVHI), Nov. 16, 1973.

6 Appendix to Rules of Procedure, note 4 supra.

7 For further discussion of the consensus rule, see Daniel, Vignes Will the Third Conference on the Law of the Sea Work According to the Consensus Rule? infra p. 119 Google Scholar. The “gentlemen’s agreement” is quoted at p. 124, note 16.

8 Rule 37 of the Rules of Procedure, Note 4 supra, provides as follows:

Rule 37

1. Before a matter of substance is put to the vote, a determination that all efforts at reaching general agreement have been exhausted shall be made by the majority specified in paragraph 1 of rule 39.

2. Prior to making such a determination the following procedures may be invoked:

(a) When a matter of substance comes up for voting for the first time, the President may, and shall if requested by at least 15 representatives, defer the question of taking a vote on such matter for a period not exceeding 10 calendar days. The provisions of this subparagraph may be applied only once on the matter.

(b) At any time the Conference, upon a proposal by the President or upon motion by any representative, may decide, by a majority of the representatives present and voting, to defer the question of taking a vote on any matter of substance for a specified period of time.

(c) During any period of deferment, the President shall make every effort, with the assistance as appropriate of the General Committee, to facilitate the achievement of general agreement, having regard to the over-all progress made on all matters or substance which are closely related, and a report shall be made to the Conference by the President prior to the end of the period.

(d) If by the end of a specified period of deferment the Conference has not reached agreement and if the question of taking a vote is not further deferred in accordance with subparagraph (b) of this paragraph, the determination that all efforts at reaching general agreement have been exhausted shall be made in accordance with paragraph 1 of this rule.

(e) If the Conference has not determined that all efforts at reaching agreement had been exhausted, the President may propose or any representative may move, notwithstanding rule 36, after the end of a period of no less than five calendar days from the last prior vote on such a determination, that such a determination be made in accordance with paragraph 1 of this rule; the requirement of five days’ delay shall not apply during the last two weeks of a session.

3. No vote shall be taken on any matter of substance less than two working days after an announcement that the Conference is to proceed to vote on the matter has been made, during which period the announcement shall be published in the Journal at the first opportunity.

Rule 55 applies rule 37 “to the proceedings of committees and subsidiary bodies, except that: . . .

(d) Rule 37 shall be applied to the Main Committees, provided that a determination pursuant to paragraph 1 shall require a majority of the representatives present and voting, the deferment of the question of taking a vote by the Chairman of the Committee in conformity with subparagraph 2(a) shall not exceed five calendar days and the assistance specified in subparagraph 2(c) shall be rendered the Chairman by the officers of the Committee.

9 Rule 39, paragraph 1, which also applies under rule 37, provides:

Decisions of the Conference on all matters of substance, including the adoption of the text of the Convention on the Law of the Sea as a whole, shall be taken by a two-thirds majority of the representatives present and voting, provided that such majority shall include at least a majority of the States participating in that session of the Conference.

Rule 40 contains the following definitions:

1. For the purpose of these rules, the phrase “representatives present and voting” means representatives present and casting an affirmative or negative vote; representatives who abstain from voting shall be considered as not voting.

2. Subject to the provisions of rules 1 to 5 and without prejudice to the powers and functions of the Credentials Committee, the term “States participating” in relation to any particular session of the Conference means any State whose representatives have registered with the Secretariat of the Conference as participating in that session and which has not subsequently notified the Secretariat of its withdrawal from that session or a part of it. Tie Secretariat shall keep a Register for this purpose.

10 A/CONF.62/L.4.

11 A/CONF.62/L.7.

12 “For further discussion on this issue, see Adede, A. O. The System for Exploitation of the “Common Heritage of Mankind” at the Caracas Conference, infra p. 31 Google Scholar.

13 Draft Articles Considered by tie Committee at its Informal Meetings (Articles 1–21), A/CONF.62/C.1/L.3.

14 Footnote 7 of the text, id. at 9, appears here and reads as follows: “The view was expressed that the word ‘regulation’ in this context should be replaced by the word ‘supervision.’”

15 Id. at 19. Quoted in full infra p. 38.

16 Paragraph 2(e) reads:

2. Regulations promulgated pursuant to paragraph 1 of this article shall include adequate provisions for: . . .

(e) the assurance to consuming countries, on a non-discriminatory basis, of adequate supplies at reasonable prices of the products arising from the exploration and exploitation of the Area and its resources, due regard being paid to the availability on fair and equitable terms of similar or competitive land-based products.

17 A/CONF.62/C.1/L.7.

18 A/CONF.62/C.1/L.6.

19 A/CONF.62/C.1/L.9.

20 A/CONF.62/C.1/L.8.

21 Note 13, supra.

22 A/CONF.62/C.1/L.5.

23 A/CONF.62/L.86.

24 Note 1, supra.

25 Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone. 15 UST 1606; TIAS 5639; 516 UNTS 205; 52 AJIL 851 (1958).

26 A/CONF.62/C.2/L.19.

27 A/CONF.62/C.2/L.3.

28 Note 27, supra.

29 A/CONF.62/C.2/L.11.

30 A/CONF.62/C.2/L.16.

31 A/CONF.62/C.2/L.47.

32 A/CONF.62/C.2/L.40.

33 Note 31, supra.

34 A/CONF.62/C.2/L.79.

35 Convention on the High Seas. 13 UST 2312; TIAS 5200; 450 UNTS 82; 52 AJIL842 (1958).

36 Main Trends paper, note 1 supra, provision 174.

37 Id., provision 177.

38 Id., provisions 175–76.

39 Id., provision 142.

40 Id., provisions 155–63.

41 High Seas Convention, note 35 supra, Art. 1.

42 Note 31, supra.

43 [1951] ICJ Rep. 116.

44 Note 25, supra.

45 Convention on the Continental Shelf. 15 UST 471; TIAS 5578; 499 UNTS 311; 52 AJIL 858 (1958). Art. 5.

46 Note 25, supra. Arts. 4 and 9.

47 Note 35, supra. Art. 21.

48 Note 45, supra. Art. 4.

49 Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Seabed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof. 23 UST 701; TIAS 7337. Art. 1.

50 Note 25, supra. Art. 4.

5l Note 45, supra. Art. 1.

52 Territorial Sea Convention, note 25, supra. Arts. 10 and 11.

53 Id., Art. 12; Continental Shelf Convention, note 45, supra. Art. 6.

54 [1969] ICJ Rep. 3.

55 Note 3, supra.

56 Note 2, supra.

57 A/CONF.62/C.3/L.13.

58 A/CONF.62/C.3/L.19.

59 A/CONF.62/C.3/L.12.

60 Note 10, supra.