284 



now going on. Furthermore, reliance by some agencies on the universal and 

 spontaneous implementation by States of recommendations, however desirable, 

 made by technical bodies may perhaps, we submit, be a little optimistic. We also 

 note that the basic political problem has been carefully avoided in all the 

 activities going on so far, and even in General Assembly resolution 2172 (XXI), 

 which is the basic General Assembly resolution, everything is mentioned except 

 the basic political problem. The only result that we can hope for from the study 

 which is now being carried out by the Panel of Experts, which will meet again 

 next year, is a long study and a long discussion of the scientific and engineering 

 aspects of the question. 



In the circumstances, it is not surprising that increasing concern has been 

 expressed in unofficial quarters over the apparent lack of awareness in the inter- 

 national community of the implications of recent developments in technology 

 in the context of the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf. Increas- 

 ingly numerous voices have been raised stressing the urgency of considering 

 the vital political questions involved and urging that clear legal provision be 

 made for an international regime, administered by an efficient international 

 authority over the sea-beds and the ocean floor beyond a variously defined con- 

 tinental shelf. I should like to pay a tribute in this connexion both to the Com- 

 mission to Study the Organization of Peace and to the International Law Asso- 

 ciation for their excellent work in alerting public opinion and I would commend 

 for careful study the documentation produced by them on the question we are 

 considering. The latest proposal in favour of an international regime was put 

 forward in July this year by the World Peace Through Law Conference which 

 w^as attended by over 2,000 lawyers and judges from over 100 countries. That 

 proposal was contained in resolution 15 which deserves to be cited : 



"Whereas new technology and oceanography have revealed the possibility 

 of exploitation of untold resources of the high seas and of the bed thereof beyond 

 the continental shelf and more than half of mankind finds itself underprivileged, 

 underfed and underdeveloped, and the high seas are the common heritage of 

 all mankind, 



"Resolved that the World Peace Through Law Center : 



(1) Recommend to the General Assembly of the United Nations the is- 

 suance of a proclamation declaring that the non-fishery resources of the high 

 seas, outside the territorial waters of any State, and the bed of the sea 

 beyond the continental shelf, appertain to the United Nations and are subject 

 to its jurisdiction and control." 



Among the supporters of an international regime for the sea-beds and the 

 ocean floor there are two main currents of opinion. One favours the creation of 

 a new agency responsible for all oceanographic activities, including those con- 

 cerning mineral resources of the sea. The other prefers to entrust all respon- 

 sibility to the United Nations. 



As an illustration of the former current of opinion I will cite the recommen- 

 dation of the .Toint ACMRR/SCOR/WMO Working Group to the effect that : 

 "member governments of the United Nations family and the various United Na- 

 tions agencies give early and thorough consideration to the advisability and 

 feasibility of establishing a Central Inter-governinental Oceanic Organization 

 to deal with all aspects of ocean investigation and uses of the sea." 

 That recommendation is contained in the records of the .Joint Meeting of the 

 Working Group held on 17-21 .Tuly 1907. 



On the other hand, other experts believe, like Christy, that an effective inter- 

 national regime can best be developed under the auspices of the United Nations 

 since this : 



". . . is the one public international body . . . that comes closest to meeting the 

 requirements ... to achieve an international regime. The United Nations au- 

 thority must acquire jurisdiction of the resources on and imder the sea floor. 

 This jurisdiction must permit it to part and protect exclusive rights of ent'-e- 

 preneurs . . . and must also have the ability to tax or extract rent or royalty 

 payments for the use of fhe resources and it must be given the ability to utilize 

 or distribute these revenues in an accentable manner." 



FResuming in afternoon session, November 1, 1967 :1 



^Ir. Chairman, I am deenly conscious of the fact that the Committee is most 

 anxious to proceed to the Korean question, and I have used the luncheon interval 

 to drastically reduce what I had in mind to say. 



From what I said this morning, I think it is clear that there can be no doubt 

 that an effective international regime over the sea-bed and the ocean floor 



