140
1 The Development-Oriented Nature of the Principle
of the Common Heritage of Mankind in the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea
The term “common heritage of mankind” made its first appearance in the vocabulary of international law of the sea on 17 August 1967 when the Permanent Mission
of Malta to the United Nations addressed a Note verbale to the Secretary-General
1
calling for the adoption of a declaration and a treaty concerning the reservation
exclusively for peaceful purposes of the sea-bed and the ocean floor beyond the
limits of national jurisdiction.
2
According to Malta’s proposal
3
the declaration of this area as the “the common
heritage of mankind” was to be accompanied inter alia by two basic elements: a
development-oriented nature and an indispensable institutional dimension.
Accordingly, the financial benefits derived from its exploitation
4
should have been
devoted to the promotion of the development of poor countries and the treaty should
have provided for the creation of an international agency with regulatory and supervisory powers with regard to the activities in the Area of States, private individuals
and companies.
The “interest of mankind” as a guiding principle for the activities of States within
areas beyond national jurisdiction was not an absolute novelty in the practice of the
General Assembly at that time. With respect to the legal regime of the outer space it
had already been envisaged both in Article 1 of the Declaration of legal principles
governing the activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space
5
and in
Article 1 of the Treaty on the Principles Governing the Activities of States in the
Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial
Bodies.
6
Reference to the concept has been made thereafter in relation to the legal
1 UNGA, Doc. A/6695, Malta: Request for Inclusion of a Supplementary Item in the Agenda of the
Twenty-Second Session, 18th August 1967, Agenda Item 92, Annexes.
2 Gorove (1971–1972), Pardo (1975), Kewenig (1981), Kiss (1982), Goldie (1983), Dupuy (1984),
Baslar (1998), and Pinto (2012).
3 For the well known speech of Ambassador Arvid Pardo see A/C.1/PV. 1515.
4 The discovery of a huge quantity of polymetallic manganese nodules on the ocean floor raised
great expectations in the 1960s on the possibility of recovering them even from depth of thousands
of meters, but inherent technological and financial limitations discouraged private sector from
investing in the deep seabed mining. To date, the same barriers still exist and it is not easy to predict
when you will move on from the ongoing exploration phase to that of extraction. More recently,
scientists discovered that the seabed, and especially the part of it comprised in the ‘Area’, is a
formidable habitat for sulphide minerals and micro-organisms whose existence depends on the
activity of hydrothermal vents mainly located on the mid-oceanic ridges. The legal condition of
these resources has inevitably became a source of growing interest from the standpoint of both
international law of the sea and international environmental law and the question whether or not
they are part of the common heritage of mankind is at the centre of a controversial debate. See
Leary (2007), and Matz-Lück (2010).
5 UNGA, Res. 1962 (XVIII), 13th December 1963, 18th session supp. 15, 15.
6 UNGA, Res. 2222 (XXI), 19th December 1966, Official Records of the General Assembly,
Twenty-first Session, agenda items 30, 89 and 91, document A/6431; 610 UNTS 205.
E. Zamuner
1 The Development-Oriented Nature of the Principle
of the Common Heritage of Mankind in the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea
The term “common heritage of mankind” made its first appearance in the vocabulary of international law of the sea on 17 August 1967 when the Permanent Mission
of Malta to the United Nations addressed a Note verbale to the Secretary-General
1
calling for the adoption of a declaration and a treaty concerning the reservation
exclusively for peaceful purposes of the sea-bed and the ocean floor beyond the
limits of national jurisdiction.
2
According to Malta’s proposal
3
the declaration of this area as the “the common
heritage of mankind” was to be accompanied inter alia by two basic elements: a
development-oriented nature and an indispensable institutional dimension.
Accordingly, the financial benefits derived from its exploitation
4
should have been
devoted to the promotion of the development of poor countries and the treaty should
have provided for the creation of an international agency with regulatory and supervisory powers with regard to the activities in the Area of States, private individuals
and companies.
The “interest of mankind” as a guiding principle for the activities of States within
areas beyond national jurisdiction was not an absolute novelty in the practice of the
General Assembly at that time. With respect to the legal regime of the outer space it
had already been envisaged both in Article 1 of the Declaration of legal principles
governing the activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space
5
and in
Article 1 of the Treaty on the Principles Governing the Activities of States in the
Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial
Bodies.
6
Reference to the concept has been made thereafter in relation to the legal
1 UNGA, Doc. A/6695, Malta: Request for Inclusion of a Supplementary Item in the Agenda of the
Twenty-Second Session, 18th August 1967, Agenda Item 92, Annexes.
2 Gorove (1971–1972), Pardo (1975), Kewenig (1981), Kiss (1982), Goldie (1983), Dupuy (1984),
Baslar (1998), and Pinto (2012).
3 For the well known speech of Ambassador Arvid Pardo see A/C.1/PV. 1515.
4 The discovery of a huge quantity of polymetallic manganese nodules on the ocean floor raised
great expectations in the 1960s on the possibility of recovering them even from depth of thousands
of meters, but inherent technological and financial limitations discouraged private sector from
investing in the deep seabed mining. To date, the same barriers still exist and it is not easy to predict
when you will move on from the ongoing exploration phase to that of extraction. More recently,
scientists discovered that the seabed, and especially the part of it comprised in the ‘Area’, is a
formidable habitat for sulphide minerals and micro-organisms whose existence depends on the
activity of hydrothermal vents mainly located on the mid-oceanic ridges. The legal condition of
these resources has inevitably became a source of growing interest from the standpoint of both
international law of the sea and international environmental law and the question whether or not
they are part of the common heritage of mankind is at the centre of a controversial debate. See
Leary (2007), and Matz-Lück (2010).
5 UNGA, Res. 1962 (XVIII), 13th December 1963, 18th session supp. 15, 15.
6 UNGA, Res. 2222 (XXI), 19th December 1966, Official Records of the General Assembly,
Twenty-first Session, agenda items 30, 89 and 91, document A/6431; 610 UNTS 205.
E. Zamuner