646 
cially stated by President Johnson, that an international “race to grab and hold 
lands under the high seas’’ must be avoided. 
This declaration of the President, as the context clearly indicates, referred 
to the ocean bottoms beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. Thus under- 
stood, the objective accords with the paragraph in the 1968 ABA Resolution 
which supports efforts to protect the deep ocean floor from claims of sovereignty 
by any nation or group of nations. 
Any such framework should also be judged, in the Commission’s view, by the 
extent to which it achieves the following additional objectives (pp. 141-143) : 
(1) Encourages scientific and technological research, and capital invest- 
ment for exploration and exploitation, by making it possible for these activi- 
ties to be carried on in an orderly and economic manner. 
(2) Affords a fair chance to all states to engage in minerals exploration 
and exploitation. 
(3) Minimizes the ‘creation of vested interests that will inhibit changes” 
in the framework which may be deemed desirable in the light of unfolding 
experience. 
(4) Promotes avoidance of international conflict. 
We agree with the first, second, and fourth of these statements. We find the 
third unclear. If it means that the international framework would result in 
leases and concessions being subject to revision because of some future change in 
the regime, we are opposed to it. If it merely means that caution should be ex- 
ercised in the creation of an immutable legal framework, it is less objectionable. 
The Report states that in order for the international framework to achieve 
the desired objectives it 
“must provide means to recognize exclusive claims to explore and exploit the 
mineral resources of large enough sub-sea areas for long enough periods of time 
to furnish the incentive to undertake this activity. It must protect recognized 
claims and at the same time require the relinquishment of claims that are not 
properly explored or developed within fixed reasonable periods of time. It also 
must provide for the peaceful settlement of disputes that arise” (p. 143). 
These principles are unexceptionable. 
B, Adequacy or inadequacy of the existing regime 
The Commission concludes (p. 143) that the objectives summarized above can- 
not be achieved within the existing international framework. In essence, this 
framework is described as providing that each coastal state presently has ex- 
clusive access to the non-living resources of its territorial sea space. It has 
“sovereign rights” over its treaty continental shelf “for the purpose of exploring 
it and exploiting its natural resources,” but it must not interfere unduly with 
other uses of ocean space. Beyond the legal shelf, only general principles of law 
apply, and these are declared to ‘‘abound with uncertainty.” 
The chief areas of uncertainty which deter development are seen by the Com- 
mission as two: (1) the seaward boundary of the continental shelf under the 
1958 Geneva Convention, and (2) the fact that beyond that line existing prin- 
ciples are insufficient to assure security and protect important national and in- 
ternational interest (p. 146). These will be discussed in turn below. 
C. Boundary of the treaty Continental Shelf 
1. Text of Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. 
The articles of the Convention on the Continental Shelf particularly relevant 
to this discussion are Articles 1 and 2, which provide: 
Article 1 
“Kor the purpose of these articles, the term ‘continental shelf’ is used as 
referring (a) to the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas adjacent to the 
coast but outside the area of the territorial sea, to a depth of 200 metres or, 
beyond that limit, to where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of the 
exploitation of the natural resources of the said areas; (b) to the seabed and 
subsoil of similar submarine areas adjacent to the coasts of islands. 
Article 2 
“1. The coastal State exercises over the continental shelf sovereign rights for 
the purpose of exploring it and exploiting its natural resources. 
