Commonwealth assists Mauritius and Seychelles in groundbreaking submission to UN

Securing exclusive access and jurisdictional certainty to the potentially lucrative resources of the seabed is considered by many coastal states to be crucial for their future development.

The benefits of these resources - which include oil and gas reserves, mineral deposits and living marine organisms - are potentially enormous, particularly for small island nations and developing coastal states.

This prompted the Governments of Mauritius and Seychelles to lodge a joint submission with the United Nations concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf.

In the Submission, made on 1 December 2008, the two countries jointly claim approximately 400,000km2 of additional continental shelf beyond the traditional 200 nautical mile limit.

Groundbreaking

"This is a major achievement for the two countries. The preparation of a submission is a significant undertaking that involves a consideration of complex legal and scientific issues," said Joshua Brien, Legal Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat.

"The development of a joint submission adds to the complexity of the task. The fact that the two countries have succeeded in lodging a joint submission only after reaching agreement to prepare such a submission in July this year is unprecedented."

The Submission by these two Commonwealth countries, made under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is the first to be made in any form by a country in the Africa region or Indian Ocean. It also represents the first joint submission made by two small island states anywhere in the world. To date, only 13 countries have lodged such submissions.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is a multilateral treaty that establishes a framework of rules and principles to govern all ocean space. The Convention has been ratified by over 150 countries, including some 47 Commonwealth member countries.

Mr Brien, who has managed the project since its inception, noted that the approach adopted by Mauritius and Seychelles serves as an example to other countries with overlapping continental shelf entitlements of what can be achieved through co-operation as opposed to acting unilaterally.

Working together

"The making of a joint submission offers the great benefit of enabling coastal states to co-operate in seeking to confirm the outer limits of the continental shelf and to proceed later to decide how best to delimit or jointly manage the area," added Mr Brien.

The Submission was prepared by teams of scientific, technical and legal officials established by each country, who collaborated through a series of intensive joint working sessions. The Commonwealth Secretariat provided assistance during the development of the submission in the form of in-house legal expertise and the engagement of scientific and technical experts to provide advice to the government teams as required. The Secretariat also assumed a good offices role in assisting in the co-ordination of the joint working sessions.

“The making of a joint submission by these two Commonwealth member countries bears witness to what can be achieved through trust, cooperation and a mutual desire to address matters of international and national significance,” said Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma.

“It is powerful testimony to the Commonwealth which supports its smallest and most vulnerable states, and which acts by dialogue and consensus.” 

The joint Submission will be examined by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a body established under the Convention to make recommendations to states seeking to determine the outer limits of the continental shelf.

The process of preparing the submission has also served to enhance co-operation between the two countries concerning the management of their ocean space. This can be seen in the conclusion of an exclusive economic zone boundary between the two countries after many decades of uncertainty, and also the creation of a Joint Management Committee, all of this in the space of six months.

The executive summary of the Submission is publicly available at: http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm

The Submission will be formally presented to the Commission at its next meeting in March 2009.

Key Links:

• Country Profile: Mauritius
• Country Profile: Seychelles
• Special Advisory Services