OPRF implements the project on "Research for Issues accompanied by the Extended Continental Shelf." This year we reflect the achievement of the UN Convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) and practices of its organs at the opportunity of the 30th anniversary of the opening for signature of the UNCLOS. We therefore held the International Seminar which was composed of two sessions. The seminar was held under the chairmanship of Mr. Moritaka Hayashi, Professor Emeritus of Waseda University, Special Research Fellow of the OPRF.

Two presentations in the first session provided the overview of what the UNCLOS is and how its organs work to implement the Convention, especially how the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) fulfills its mandate.

As the first speaker, Professor Taisaku Ikeshima provided the audience with the overview of the implementation mechanism under UNCLOS. He gave the explanations on the bodies which were newly established by UNCLOS, as follows. (1) CLCS; its science-oriented, neutral & non-political nature will enhance to its reliability and predictability. (2) ISA; its practical role may be currently limited due to the unclear future prospects, its overall functions will decide the future meaning of the Common Heritage of Mankind. (3) ITLOS; it is a permanent judicial body. It began functioning in 1996 and to date, 19 cases have been submitted to it. He also pointed out that UNCLOS presupposed the idea that the Convention and other relevant agreements needed to be implemented through competent bodies at national, regional and global levels.

Professor Donald Rothwell gave the lecture on the CLCS from the perspective of international law. He divided the CLCS's work into four phases as follows. (1) Organizational phase (1997-2001): focusing on procedural matters such as finalization of its Rules of Procedures (RoP). (2) Primary Phase (2001-2004): Submissions from Russia, Brazil and Australia were made. Recommendation for Russia has been adopted. (3) Secondary Phase (2005-2009): 48 submissions were received, including 29 submissions in the 5 weeks prior to the 13 May 2009 deadline, and the CLCS proceeded to work and took over 2.5 years between the dates of the submission and making recommendation. (4) Tertiary Phase (2010-current): the CLCS has now established its procedures and is working through an enormous backlog of submissions and it is issuing recommendations with some regularities. He also emphasized that, as coastal States did not have a unilateral right to proclaim outer continental shelf, it was clear that CLCS recommendations would have influence on the delimitation of maritime spaces.

The second session was to consider the more practical aspects of the implementation of the UNCLOS, focusing on the practice of the CLCS.

Dr. Serguei Tarassenko gave the presentation on functions and roles of the DOALOS in relation to the implementation of UNCLOS. The Division has several core functions, i.e., (1) to promote universal participation, (2) to facilitate uniform and consistent application, and (3) to assist in implementation through advice and assistance, servicing of meetings, cooperation and coordination, discharging SG's responsibilities such as depositary functions and (4) to monitor and information dissemination. He also pointed out that the DOALOS worked as secretariat of CLCS (i) to provide service such as; to receive submissions and giving publicity to their executive summaries, (ii) to organize and servicing meeting of the Commission and Subcommissions, (iii) to facilitate the consideration of submissions by the Commission and Subcommissions and (iv) to manage trust funds.

Professor Tetsuro Urabe gave the presentation on the mission and practice of the CLCS. He pointed out the following. (1) The number of submissions is still growing rapidly as coastal States recognize the practice of CLCS. The CLCS faces an issue of increasing workload. Consistent financial and other support and properly resourced Secretariat are necessary. (2) The CLCS has been making efforts to be more transparent and consistent so that coastal States feel comfortable during the process of consideration of its submissions by modifying its Rules of Procedures several times. It also contributes to impartiality and independency of the CLCS's work. (3) Since 2008, CLCS has made public summaries of recommendations which are useful to maintain its institutional memory and make recommendations consistent. Consistency is a key to increase reliability.

Date
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
13:30-17:30 (Seminar)　17:45-19:00 (Reception)

Venue
Nippon Zaidan Building　（1-2-2 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo）

Organized by
Ocean Policy Research Foundation

Sponsored by
The Nippon Foundation

Participants
About 170 persons

* This seminar was carried out by the OPRF's project "Support for delineation of the Outer Continental Shelf" under the patronage of The Nippon Foundation from the proceeds of motorboat racing.