85 



Work has just begun in the Language Groups on First Committee 

 texts. Informal Plenary texts remain to be addressed. 



In addition, a significant number of questions remain 

 unresolved that relate to Second and Third Committee texts. 

 Among then are the following: 



1. Flag and Registry . The Second Committee texts, particu- 

 larly Part VII on the High Seas, consistently refer to 



flag when referring to ships having the nationality of a 

 state. This is Geneva Convention terminology. The Third 

 Committee texts on pollution refer to both flag and registry 

 with respect to both ships and aircraft. This is at best 

 cumbersome and at worst a harbinger of legal confusion. 

 The English Language Group has proposed that the texts be 

 revised so as to use "flag" alone in connection with 

 vessels and "registry" alone with aircraft. The Spanish 

 Language Group has made a counter-proposal that the tern 

 "nationality" be used in connection with both. Either 

 faces the prospect of Third Committee resistance on what 

 is in fact a Second Committee issue. 



2. Definj.tion of the Area . The definition of the Area 



in Article 1, para. 1 bears no textual relationship to the 

 Second Committee articles. It refers to the ocean ficor, 

 whereas articles 56 and 76, which also cover parts of the 

 ocean floor, refer only to the seabed and subsoil. More- 

 over, the Convention does not indicate what is meant by 

 the limits of national jurisdiction, since the term "national 

 jurisdiction" is not used in any of the articles on the 

 territorial sea, exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. 

 In this connection it should be noted that the Convention 

 therefore prohibits national claims beyond limits that are 

 nowhere defined expressio verbis. 



3. Government Non-Commercial Ships. Three different terms 

 are used in four articles (31, 32, 96 and 236) to refer to 

 ships entitled to sovereign immunity: one inherited from 

 the 1958 Territorial Sea Convention, one from the 1953 High 

 Seas Convention, and one from the 1973 Marine Pollu" ; .on 

 Convention. 



4. Sealanes. The term sealanes is used in at least three 

 substantially different contexts. Moreover, the tern "sea- 

 lanes and traffic separation schemes" is not the preferred 

 technical terminology — IMCO recommends "routoing systems." 



