95
Chapter 6
International Law and Its Evolution
Élie Jarmache
É. Jarmache ()
Secrétariat général de la mer, 69, rue de Varenne,
75007 Paris, France
e-mail: elie.jarmache@pm.gouv.fr
Framework
Access to marine mineral resources for exploration and exploitation purposes is not
unrestricted. It is tightly controlled both by the international law of the sea and by
national legal systems. The international law of the sea, long before its most recent
version (that of the 1982 United Nations Convention), established the legal foundations of the new regime of resources in a resolution of the United Nations General
Assembly on 17th December 1970 (resolution 2749), formulating the “principles
governing the sea-bed and the ocean floor, and the subsoil thereof, beyond the limits
of national jurisdiction”. The principles can be summarised through two complementary ideas which are incorporated in the Convention: firstly, national nonappropriation of seabed resources, and secondly the affirmation that these resources
are for the benefit of mankind, established as a new subject of the law, and are the
common heritage of mankind.
As if in echo, a few years later, as the Third Conference on the Law of the
Sea was setting to work (1973), the United Nations General Assembly confirmed
the principle of permanent sovereignty of a State over its natural resources. This
principle, which applies to all natural resources, also applies to marine resources
within the limits of national jurisdiction. It was formally laid down in the Charter of
Economic Rights and Duties of States adopted in 1974, as the new global economic
order was becoming established.
The combination of this principle of permanent sovereignty of States and the
advent of common heritage of mankind fully reflect the fact that access to marine
mineral resources is not unrestricted. Their exploration and exploitation are
controlled activities.
Y. Fouquet, D. Lacroix (eds.), Deep Marine Mineral Resources,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8563-1_6, © Éditions Quæ 2014
Chapter 6
International Law and Its Evolution
Élie Jarmache
É. Jarmache ()
Secrétariat général de la mer, 69, rue de Varenne,
75007 Paris, France
e-mail: elie.jarmache@pm.gouv.fr
Framework
Access to marine mineral resources for exploration and exploitation purposes is not
unrestricted. It is tightly controlled both by the international law of the sea and by
national legal systems. The international law of the sea, long before its most recent
version (that of the 1982 United Nations Convention), established the legal foundations of the new regime of resources in a resolution of the United Nations General
Assembly on 17th December 1970 (resolution 2749), formulating the “principles
governing the sea-bed and the ocean floor, and the subsoil thereof, beyond the limits
of national jurisdiction”. The principles can be summarised through two complementary ideas which are incorporated in the Convention: firstly, national nonappropriation of seabed resources, and secondly the affirmation that these resources
are for the benefit of mankind, established as a new subject of the law, and are the
common heritage of mankind.
As if in echo, a few years later, as the Third Conference on the Law of the
Sea was setting to work (1973), the United Nations General Assembly confirmed
the principle of permanent sovereignty of a State over its natural resources. This
principle, which applies to all natural resources, also applies to marine resources
within the limits of national jurisdiction. It was formally laid down in the Charter of
Economic Rights and Duties of States adopted in 1974, as the new global economic
order was becoming established.
The combination of this principle of permanent sovereignty of States and the
advent of common heritage of mankind fully reflect the fact that access to marine
mineral resources is not unrestricted. Their exploration and exploitation are
controlled activities.
Y. Fouquet, D. Lacroix (eds.), Deep Marine Mineral Resources,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8563-1_6, © Éditions Quæ 2014