Commonwealth assists Solomon Islands, Seychelles confirm offshore limits

The Commonwealth Secretariat is to provide legal advice and technical assistance to the Governments of Seychelles and Solomon Islands to enable them make submissions to the United Nations with respect to determining the outer limits of their continental shelves.

The assistance to be provided under these projects will enable these countries to exercise their respective rights under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea -- a multilateral treaty that has been ratified by more than 150 countries and sets out a framework of rules and principles to govern the management of all ocean space.

Under the Convention, a country seeking to claim extended areas of continental shelf beyond the traditional 200 nautical miles (about 370 kilometres) limit must make a submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Many countries are required to make their submissions by May 2009. To date, ten countries have done so.

“The commencement of these projects reflects the high priority that the Secretariat accords to assisting small states. For many of these countries, the making of a submission to the Commission represents a major financial and resource challenge, since it is an expensive process and involves the consideration of complex legal and technical matters,” said Joshua Brien, an Adviser in the Economic and Legal Section of the Secretariat’s Special Advisory Services Division.

Mr Brien, who is managing the projects, stressed it is important that Commonwealth member countries which are entitled to extend their continental shelf do so and “take advantage of the once-only opportunity to expand and confirm their offshore jurisdictional limits that the making of a submission to the Commission represents.”

“It is through the submission process that countries like Solomon Islands and Seychelles can secure exclusive access to additional areas of continental shelf and to potentially lucrative natural resources, such as oil and gas reserves and sedentary marine living organisms located in these areas,” he added.

Other countries benefiting from the Secretariat’s work in assisting member states to develop and make submissions to the Commission include Kenya, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.

Key Links:

• Law
• Solomon Islands Country Profile
• Seychelles Country Profile