A/RES/70/235
Oceans and the law of the sea
78. Takes note of the 22 recommendations made by the Commission on the
submissions of a number of coastal States, and welcomes the fact that summaries of
recommendations are being made publicly available in accordance with
paragraph 11.3 of annex III to the Rules of Procedure of the Commission;
79. Notes that the consideration by the Commission of submissions by
coastal States in accordance with article 76 of and annex II to the Convention is
without prejudice to the application of other parts of the Convention by States
Parties;
80. Also notes the considerable number of submissions yet to be considered
by the Commission and the demands that this places on its members and the
secretariat as provided by the Division, and emphasizes the need to ensure that the
Commission can perform its functions expeditiously, efficiently and effectively and
maintain its high level of quality and expertise;
81. Takes note with appreciation of the decision of the Commission at its
thirty-fifth and thirty-seventh sessions regarding the workload of the Commission,
including its decision to continue to extend the duration of its sessions for 2015 and
until June 2017 to three sessions of seven weeks each, including plenary meetings, 43
and further notes the decision of the Commission at its thirty -second and thirtyfourth sessions to establish new subcommissions so that nine subcommissions
would actively consider submissions; 44
82. Notes that the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention, in its
decisions regarding the conditions of service of the members of the Commission, 45
reaffirmed the obligation of States under the Convention whose experts were
serving on the Commission to defray the expenses of the experts they had
nominated while the experts are in performance of Commission duties, including the
provision of medical coverage, and urged those States to do their utmost to ensure
the full participation of those experts in the work of the Commission, including the
meetings of subcommissions, in accordance with the Convention;
83. Also notes the decision of the twenty-fifth Meeting of States Parties to
the Convention to continue the consideration of the conditions of service of the
members of the Commission within the open-ended working group established by
the twenty-third Meeting of States Parties to the Convention;17
84. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take appropriate measures,
within overall existing resource levels, to further strengthen the capacity of the
Division, serving as the secretariat of the Commission, in order to ensure enhanced
support and assistance to the Commission and its subcommissions in their
consideration of submissions, as required by paragraph 9 of annex III to the Rules of
Procedure of the Commission, in particular its human resources, taking into account
the need for simultaneous work on several submissions;
85. Urges the Secretary-General to continue to provide all necessary
secretariat services to the Commission in accordance with article 2, paragraph 5, of
annex II to the Convention;
_______________
43
See CLCS/85 and CLCS/88.
See CLCS/80 and Corr.1 and CLCS/83 and Corr.1.
45
SPLOS/276 and SPLOS/286.
44
18/53