United Nations
General Assembly
A/RES/61/222
Distr.: General
16 March 2007
Sixty-first session
Agenda item 71 (a)
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 2006
[without reference to a Main Committee (A/61/L.30 and Add.1)]
61/222. Oceans and the law of the sea
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolutions 49/28 of 6 December 1994, 52/26 of 26 November
1997, 54/33 of 24 November 1999, 57/141 of 12 December 2002, 58/240 of
23 December 2003, 59/24 of 17 November 2004, 60/30 of 29 November 2005 and
other relevant resolutions concerning the United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea (“the Convention”), 1
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General, 2 the addendum
thereto, 3 the report of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group to study
issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity
beyond areas of national jurisdiction 4 and also the reports on the work of the United
Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the
Sea (“the Consultative Process”) at its seventh meeting 5 and on the sixteenth
Meeting of States Parties to the Convention, 6
Emphasizing the pre-eminent contribution provided by the Convention to the
strengthening of peace, security, cooperation and friendly relations among all
nations in conformity with the principles of justice and equal rights and to the
promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples of the world, in
accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations as set forth in the
Charter of the United Nations, as well as for the sustainable development of the
oceans and seas,
Emphasizing also the universal and unified character of the Convention, and
reaffirming that the Convention sets out the legal framework within which all
activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out and is of strategic importance as
the basis for national, regional and global action and cooperation in the marine
sector, and that its integrity needs to be maintained, as recognized also by the
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1
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1833, No. 31363.
A/61/63.
3
A/61/63/Add.1.
4
A/61/65.
5
A/61/156.
6
SPLOS/148.
2
06-50769