Oceans and the Law of the Sea

A/RES/56/12No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 30aOceans and the law of the sea, published in 2001.

What other versions does this mandate have?

29 versions · 1998–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/110

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Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

17 topics

Capacity Building Continental Shelf Coordination Within UN System Cultural Heritage Dispute Settlement Environmental Protection Law of the Sea Marine Environment Marine Sciences Marine Technology Maritime Safety Oceans Piracy Polymetallic Sulphides Treaties Trust Funds Underwater Exploration

What does this mandate say?

57 operative paragraphs

I.Implementation of the Convention

Calls upon all States that have not done so, in order to achieve the goal of universal participation, to become parties to the Convention1 and the Agreement;2

Reaffirms the unified character of the Convention;

Calls upon States to harmonize, as a matter of priority, their national legislation with the provisions of the Convention, to ensure the consistent application of those provisions and to ensure also that any declarations or statements that they have made or make when signing, ratifying or acceding to the Convention are in conformity therewith and, otherwise, to withdraw any of their declarations or statements that are not in conformity;

Encourages States parties to the Convention to deposit with the Secretary-General charts and lists of geographical coordinates, as provided for in the Convention;

Takes note of the imminent entry into force of the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks;

II.Capacity-building

Urges the international community to assist, as appropriate, developing countries, in particular least developed countries and small island developing States, in the acquisition of data and the preparation of charts or lists of geographical coordinates for publication under articles 16, 22, 47, 75 and 84 of the Convention and in the preparation of information under article 76 and annex II to the Convention;

Calls upon bilateral and multilateral donor agencies to keep their programmes systematically under review to ensure the availability in all States, particularly in developing States, of the economic, legal, navigational, scientific and technical skills necessary for the full implementation of the Convention and the sustainable development of the oceans and seas nationally, regionally and globally, and in so doing to bear in mind the rights of landlocked developing States;

Requests the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the competent international organizations and programmes, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, the International Hydrographic Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Meteorological Organization and the World Bank, as well as representatives of regional development banks and the donor community, to review the efforts being made to build capacity as well as to identify the duplications that need to be avoided and the gaps that may need to be filled for ensuring consistent approaches, both nationally and regionally, with a view to implementing the Convention, and to include a section on this subject in his annual report on oceans and the law of the sea;

III.Meeting of States Parties

Requests the Secretary-General to convene the twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention in New York from 16 to 26 April 2002 and to provide the services required;

IV.Settlement of disputes

Notes with satisfaction the continued contribution of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (“the Tribunal”) to the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with Part XV of the Convention, underlines its important role and authority concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention and the Agreement, encourages States parties to the Convention to consider making a written declaration choosing from the means set out in article 287 for the settlement of disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention and the Agreement, and invites States to note the provisions of annexes V, VI, VII and VIII to the Convention concerning, respectively, conciliation, the Tribunal, arbitration and special arbitration;

Recalls the obligations of parties under article 296 of the Convention, in cases before a court or a tribunal referred to in article 287 of the Convention, to ensure prompt compliance with the decisions rendered by such court or tribunal;

Encourages States that have not yet done so to nominate conciliators and arbitrators in accordance with annexes V and VII to the Convention, and requests the Secretary-General to continue to update and circulate lists of these conciliators and arbitrators on a regular basis;

V.The Area

Notes with satisfaction the ongoing work of the International Seabed Authority (“the Authority”), including the issuance of contracts for exploration in accordance with the Convention, the Agreement and the Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Polymetallic Nodules in the Area;

Notes the ongoing elaboration of recommendations for the guidance of contractors to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects that may arise from activities in the Area, and notes that the Council of the Authority will continue to consider issues relating to regulations for prospecting and exploration for polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich crusts in the Area at the next session of the Authority, to be held in Kingston from 5 to 16 August 2002;

VI.Effective functioning of the Authority and the Tribunal

Appeals to all States parties to the Convention to pay their assessed contributions to the Authority and to the Tribunal in full and on time, and appeals also to all former provisional members of the Authority to pay any outstanding contributions;

Calls upon States that have not done so to consider ratifying or acceding to the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the Tribunal and to the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the Authority;

VII.The continental shelf

Notes with satisfaction the work of the Commission and its readiness to receive submissions by coastal States regarding the establishment of the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, and encourages concerned States and relevant international organizations and institutions to consider developing and making available training courses to assist States in the preparation of such submissions;

Takes note of the decision of the eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Convention that, in the case of a State party for which the Convention entered into force before 13 May 1999, it is understood that the ten-year time period referred to in article 4 of annex II to the Convention shall be taken to have commenced on 13 May 1999;

Encourages States parties that are in a position to do so to make every effort to make submissions to the Commission within the time period established by the Convention;

Approves the convening by the Secretary-General of the tenth session of the Commission in New York starting on 25 March 2002, of a duration of three weeks in the event of a submission being filed, or of one week, depending on the workload of the Commission, of the eleventh session from 24 to 28 June 2002, and of the twelfth session from 26 to 30 August 2002;

VIII.Marine science and technology

Stresses the importance of the issues of marine science and technology and the need to focus on how best to implement the many obligations of States and competent international organizations under Parts XIII and XIV of the Convention, and calls upon States to adopt, as appropriate and in accordance with international law, such national laws, regulations, policies and procedures as are necessary to promote and facilitate marine scientific research and cooperation, especially those relating to consent for marine scientific research projects as provided for in the Convention;

Calls upon States, through national and regional institutions, to ensure that, in respect of marine scientific research conducted pursuant to Part XIII of the Convention in areas over which a coastal State has jurisdiction, the rights of the coastal State under the Convention are respected and that, at the request of the coastal State, information, reports, results, conclusions and assessments of data, samples and research results are made available, and access to data and samples are provided, to that coastal State;

Invites the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to request its Advisory Body of Experts on the Law of the Sea to work, in close cooperation with the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs of the Secretariat and in consultation with relevant regional or subregional organizations as appropriate, on the development of procedures under Part XIII of the Convention;

Invites the relevant United Nations agencies to continue to promote various ocean science programmes, strengthen the coordination among such programmes and develop rules, regulations and procedures within the framework of the Convention so as to facilitate the effective implementation of the programmes;

Urges relevant bodies of the United Nations system to develop, with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission acting as a focal point, appropriate interactions in the field of marine science with regional fisheries organizations, environmental and scientific bodies or regional centres foreseen by Part XIV of the Convention, and encourages States to establish, where appropriate, such regional centres;

Calls upon States, through national and regional institutions engaged in marine scientific research, to ensure that the knowledge resulting from marine scientific research and monitoring is made available in a user-friendly data format, especially to developing countries, so that it can be employed by decision makers and resource managers with a view to the effective application of marine research knowledge and technology;

Stresses the importance of increasing the scientific understanding of the oceans/atmosphere interface and other factors required for an integrated ecosystem-based approach to the management of oceans and coastal areas, including through participation in ocean observing programmes and geographic information systems;

Calls upon States, through bilateral, regional and international financial organizations and technical partnerships, to continue to strengthen capacity-building activities, in particular in developing countries, in the field of marine scientific research by, inter alia, training the necessary skilled personnel, providing the necessary equipment, facilities and vessels, and transferring environmentally sound technologies;

IX.Piracy and armed robbery

Urges all States and relevant international bodies to prevent and combat piracy and armed robbery at sea by adopting measures, including assisting with capacity-building, for prevention, for reporting and investigating incidents, and for bringing the alleged perpetrators to justice, in accordance with international law, in particular through training seafarers, port staff and enforcement personnel, providing enforcement vessels and equipment and guarding against fraudulent ship registration;

Welcomes initiatives of the International Maritime Organization and Governments aimed at enhancing international cooperation, particularly at the regional level, and encourages the development by Governments, based on mutual trust, of a common approach to enforcement, investigation and prosecution in dealing with piracy and armed robbery at sea;

Calls upon States and private entities concerned to cooperate fully with the International Maritime Organization, including by submitting reports on incidents to the organization and by implementing its guidelines on preventing attacks of piracy and armed robbery;

Urges States to become parties to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and its Protocol, and to ensure its effective implementation, in particular through the adoption of legislation, where appropriate, aimed at ensuring that there is a proper framework for responses to incidents of armed robbery at sea;

X.Safety of navigation

Invites the International Hydrographic Organization, in cooperation with other relevant international organizations and interested Member States, to provide the necessary assistance to States, in particular to developing countries, in order to enhance hydrographic capability to ensure, in particular, the safety of navigation and the protection of the marine environment;

XI.Marine environment, marine resources and sustainable development

Welcomes the adoption by the Committee on Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations of the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, and urges States to take, as a matter of priority, all necessary steps to implement it effectively, including through relevant regional and subregional fisheries management organizations and arrangements;

Emphasizes once again the importance of the implementation of Part XII of the Convention in order to protect and preserve the marine environment and its living marine resources against pollution and physical degradation, and calls upon all States to cooperate and take measures, directly or through competent international organizations, for the protection and preservation of the marine environment;

Calls upon States to continue to prioritize action on marine pollution from land-based sources as part of their national sustainable development strategies and programmes, in an integrated and inclusive manner, as a means of implementing the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities,6 and takes note of the review by the intergovernmental meeting in Montreal, Canada, from 26 to 30 November 2001;

Calls upon United Nations agencies and programmes identified in General Assembly resolution 51/189 of 16 December 1996 to continue to fulfil their roles in support of the Global Programme of Action, as well as to consult with Governments, representatives of the private sector, financial institutions and bilateral and multilateral donor agencies to review their involvement in the implementation of the Global Programme of Action and to consider, inter alia, what international support is needed to help overcome the obstacles to the preparation and implementation of national and local action programmes and how they can participate actively in partnership-building with developing countries for the transfer of the requisite technology in accordance with the Convention, and taking into account the relevant parts of Agenda 21, capacity-building and funding for the implementation of the Global Programme of Action;

Calls upon States to take measures for the protection and preservation of coral reefs and to support international efforts in this regard, in particular the measures outlined in the 1998 Renewed Call to Action of the International Coral Reef Initiative and in decision V/3 adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its fifth meeting, held in Nairobi from 15 to 26 May 2000;

Emphasizes the importance of ensuring that adverse impacts on the marine environment are taken into account when assessing and evaluating development programmes and projects;

Once again urges States to take all practicable steps, in accordance with the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, to prevent pollution of the marine environment from ships and, in accordance with the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, to prevent pollution of the marine environment by dumping, and further calls upon States to become parties to and to implement the 1996 Protocol to the 1972 Convention;

Urges States to continue to work, through the International Maritime Organization, on issues relating to the protection of the marine environment from degradation resulting from ship-based activities, including the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens through ships’ ballast water, and notes the adoption of the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships;

Encourages coastal States to enhance their national capacity and establish or improve their marine management systems in order to promote integrated marine management, the protection of the marine environment and ecosystem, and the sustainable development and utilization of marine resources, and invites the relevant agencies of the United Nations system and regional organizations to take effective measures to assist the coastal States in this regard;

XII.Underwater cultural heritage

Takes note of the adoption by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization of the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage;

XIII.Activities of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea

Invites Member States and others in a position to do so to contribute to the further development of the Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship Programme on the Law of the Sea established by the General Assembly in its resolution 35/116 of 10 December 1980 and to support the training activities under the TRAIN-SEA-COAST Programme of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea;

Expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General for the annual comprehensive report on oceans and the law of the sea,4 prepared by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, as well as for the other activities of the Division, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention and the mandate set forth in resolutions 49/28, 52/26 and 54/33;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to carry out the responsibilities entrusted to him in the Convention and related resolutions of the General Assembly, including resolutions 49/28 and 52/26, and to ensure that appropriate resources are made available to the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea for the performance of such responsibilities under the approved budget for the Organization;

XIV.International coordination and cooperation

Reaffirms its decision to undertake an annual review and evaluation of the implementation of the Convention and other developments relating to ocean affairs and the law of the sea, taking into account resolution 54/33 establishing the consultative process to facilitate the review of developments in ocean affairs, and requests the Secretary-General to convene the third meeting of the Consultative Process in New York from 8 to 15 April 2002;

Recommends that, in view of the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development, in its deliberations on the report of the Secretary-General on oceans and the law of the sea at its third meeting, the Consultative Process organize its discussions around the following areas:

Protection and preservation of the marine environment;

Capacity-building, regional cooperation and coordination, and integrated ocean management, as important cross-cutting issues to address ocean affairs, such as marine science and the transfer of technology, sustainable fisheries, the degradation of the marine environment and the safety of navigation;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure more effective collaboration and coordination between the relevant parts of the Secretariat of the United Nations and the United Nations as a whole, in particular in ensuring the effectiveness, transparency and responsiveness of the mechanism for coordination on ocean issues, and also requests the Secretary-General to include in his report specific suggestions on initiatives to improve coordination, in particular at the inter-agency level, in accordance with resolution 54/33, and encourages all United Nations bodies to help this process by drawing to the attention of the Secretariat and the Subcommittee on Oceans and Coastal Areas of the Administrative Committee on Coordination those areas of their work which may, directly or indirectly, affect the work of other United Nations bodies;

Also requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of heads of intergovernmental organizations, the specialized agencies and funds and programmes of the United Nations engaged in activities relating to ocean affairs and the law of the sea, drawing their attention to paragraphs of particular relevance to them, and underlines the importance of their constructive and timely input for the report of the Secretary-General on oceans and the law of the sea and of their participation in relevant meetings and processes;

Invites the competent international organizations, as well as funding institutions, to take specific account of the present resolution in their programmes and activities, and to contribute to the preparation of the comprehensive report of the Secretary-General on oceans and the law of the sea;

XV.Trust funds

Recognizes the importance of the trust funds established by the Secretary-General pursuant to General Assembly resolution 55/7 for the purpose of assisting States in the settlement of disputes through the Tribunal, and of assisting developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, in the preparation of submissions to the Commission in compliance with article 76 of the Convention, in defraying the cost of participation of Commission members in the meetings of the Commission, and in attending the meetings of the Consultative Process; and invites States, intergovernmental organizations and agencies, national institutions, non-governmental organizations and international financial institutions, as well as natural and juridical persons, to make voluntary financial or other contributions to these trust funds;

XVI.Fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly

Decides to devote two days of plenary meetings at the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly, on 9 and 10 December 2002, to the consideration of the item entitled “Oceans and the law of the sea” and the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the opening for signature of the Convention, and encourages Member States and observers to be represented at the highest possible level;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session on the implementation of the present resolution, including other developments and issues relating to ocean affairs and the law of the sea, in connection with his annual comprehensive report on oceans and the law of the sea, and to provide the report in accordance with the modalities set out in resolution 54/33;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-seventh session the item entitled “Oceans and the law of the sea”.

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