98
The importance of the Council’s role becomes apparent when we discover that it
is expressly attributed by article 163 of the Convention with two subsidiary organs:
an Economic Planning Commission and a Legal and Technical Commission.
The first did not survive the reorganisation generated by the 1994 agreement
which, in a single sweep, also suspended the existence of what should constitute the
ISA’s commercial arm, the Enterprise, designed as an international mining operator,
in competition with operators under general jurisdiction. The competences of the
Economic Planning Commission are exercised by the Legal and Technical Commission. The attributions of the Enterprise were transferred to the Secretariat.
It is interesting to note that the 1994 agreement created a Finance Committee
in charge of examining financial issues relating to activities to be conducted in the
Area (contractor relations, their financial obligations), to advise the ISA’s organs
on budgetary aspects. The idea of a body in charge of finance is indicated in the
Convention, among the Council’s roles and responsibilities, but without any details
on the urgency of its creation. The 1994 agreement overcomes this hurdle by going
beyond the letter of Part XI, as it makes this body into an operational committee
with a fairly detailed and explicit mandate, including the examination of the ISA’s
provisional budget.
The role of the Legal and Technical Commission should be highlighted when
it comes to questions concerning access to mineral resources. The commission is
made up of a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 25 experts, elected for a period of
5 years, and aims to take account of all geopolitical sensitivities and to include all
possible aspects of the scientific, technical, legal and environmental skills required
to evaluate seabed applications. The experts, who are put forward by the State, are
considered to be independent from the moment they are elected, in order to prevent
conflicts of interest.
This commission is, to a certain extent, in charge of controlling contractors (enforcement of obligations, opinion on annual reports…). It has a normative role as it
is in charge of drawing up the most important texts, i.e. the regulations for exploration or exploitation of mineral resources. It established the two sets of regulations
for the exploration of nodules (2000) and sulphide deposits (2010). The regulations
on cobalt-rich crusts are currently in progress.
Article 165 of the Convention is entirely devoted to outlining the functions of this
commission, however here we shall simply cite the first of these functions, which
introduces the list of skills. The commission shall “make recommendations with
regard to the exercise of the Authority’s functions upon the request of the Council”.
There is potential for development behind the notion of “the Authority’s functions”.
The central role of the duo formed by the Council and the Legal and Technical
Commission could not be clearer.
The Council is made up of 36 members, and its composition in terms of the
origin of certain members breaks with the classic rules of the law of international
organisations, with the representation of:
• States considered to be the greatest consumers or importers of the commodities produced from the categories of minerals to be derived from the Area (four
States to be elected).
É. Jarmache
The importance of the Council’s role becomes apparent when we discover that it
is expressly attributed by article 163 of the Convention with two subsidiary organs:
an Economic Planning Commission and a Legal and Technical Commission.
The first did not survive the reorganisation generated by the 1994 agreement
which, in a single sweep, also suspended the existence of what should constitute the
ISA’s commercial arm, the Enterprise, designed as an international mining operator,
in competition with operators under general jurisdiction. The competences of the
Economic Planning Commission are exercised by the Legal and Technical Commission. The attributions of the Enterprise were transferred to the Secretariat.
It is interesting to note that the 1994 agreement created a Finance Committee
in charge of examining financial issues relating to activities to be conducted in the
Area (contractor relations, their financial obligations), to advise the ISA’s organs
on budgetary aspects. The idea of a body in charge of finance is indicated in the
Convention, among the Council’s roles and responsibilities, but without any details
on the urgency of its creation. The 1994 agreement overcomes this hurdle by going
beyond the letter of Part XI, as it makes this body into an operational committee
with a fairly detailed and explicit mandate, including the examination of the ISA’s
provisional budget.
The role of the Legal and Technical Commission should be highlighted when
it comes to questions concerning access to mineral resources. The commission is
made up of a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 25 experts, elected for a period of
5 years, and aims to take account of all geopolitical sensitivities and to include all
possible aspects of the scientific, technical, legal and environmental skills required
to evaluate seabed applications. The experts, who are put forward by the State, are
considered to be independent from the moment they are elected, in order to prevent
conflicts of interest.
This commission is, to a certain extent, in charge of controlling contractors (enforcement of obligations, opinion on annual reports…). It has a normative role as it
is in charge of drawing up the most important texts, i.e. the regulations for exploration or exploitation of mineral resources. It established the two sets of regulations
for the exploration of nodules (2000) and sulphide deposits (2010). The regulations
on cobalt-rich crusts are currently in progress.
Article 165 of the Convention is entirely devoted to outlining the functions of this
commission, however here we shall simply cite the first of these functions, which
introduces the list of skills. The commission shall “make recommendations with
regard to the exercise of the Authority’s functions upon the request of the Council”.
There is potential for development behind the notion of “the Authority’s functions”.
The central role of the duo formed by the Council and the Legal and Technical
Commission could not be clearer.
The Council is made up of 36 members, and its composition in terms of the
origin of certain members breaks with the classic rules of the law of international
organisations, with the representation of:
• States considered to be the greatest consumers or importers of the commodities produced from the categories of minerals to be derived from the Area (four
States to be elected).
É. Jarmache