575 
STATEMENT OF NORTHCUTT ELY, OF WASHINGTON, D.C., ON BE- 
HALF OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND ITS SECTION 
OF NATURAL RESOURCES LAW 
gis Lennon. Let me ask you, sir, your statement will take about how 
ong ? 
. Mr. Ery. I shall accommodate myself to your convenience, Mr. 
Chairman. I would suggest that if it suits you, my statement be printed 
in full as though read, and I will summarize it. 
Mr. Lennon. I would appreciate that under the circumstances, be- 
cause I am advised we will have an early quorum call. 
Without objection the gentleman’s full statement will be printed in 
the record at the appropriate place, and then you take as much time as 
you like, sir. 
Mr. Exy. Thank you. 
(The documents may be found at the close of Mr. Ely’s testimony.) 
Mr. Kry. My name, ‘Mr. Chairman, is Northcutt Ely. I am a mem- 
ber of the law firm of Ely and Duncan, of Washington, D.C. I am a 
member of the Council of the Section of Natural Resources Law of the 
American Bar Association, and appear here by direction of the chair- 
man and council of that section. 
I annex as appendix A a resolution (No. 73) of the House of Dele- 
gates of the American Bar Association, adopted at its August 1968 
meeting. This is incorporated in a Joint Report of the Sections of 
Natural Resources Law and International and Comparative Law and 
the Standing Committee on Peace and Law Through United Nations, 
recommending that resolution. 
Only the resolution itself states official policy of the American Bar 
Association. The balance of the annexed 1968 joint report states the 
supporting argument of the sections which recommended the adop- 
tion of the resolution. 
The resolution, and the supporting report, deal with two major 
subjects : 
1. The seaward limit of the exclusive jurisdiction of the United 
States with respect to exploration and exploitation of submarine min- 
eral resources; 
2. The international arrangements which should control the explo- 
ration and exploitation of submarine mineral resources seaward of the 
limits of national jurisdiction of the coastal nations. 
In discussing these I shall refer to a pending draft report of these 
same sections which will come before the councils of the respective 
sections next week, and I must therefore for the moment refer to it as 
a draft report.* : cane 
First, as to the submarine mineral resources within national juris- 
diction: The character, and the geographical limit, of the rights of 
coastal nations are controlled by the Convention on the Continental 
Shelf with respect to those nations which are parties to it, as our 
country is. Some segments of the convention have been construed by 
the International Court of Justice as stating customary international 
law, which is generally applicable even in the absence of agreement. 
1 This report was approved by the sections of Natural Resources Law and International 
and Cooperative Law and the Standing Committee on World Order Under Law at the August 
1969 meeting of the American Bar Association. The full text is annexed. 
