JAMAICA, Kingston (29 January 2017) – – The ISA Review Committee will meet in Kingston from Monday 30 January to Friday 3 February 2017 to discuss the status of its review report under Article 154 of UNCLOS.
Article 154 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea requires the Assembly of the Authority, every five years from the entry into force of the Convention, to undertake a general and systemic review of the manner in which the Authority has operated in practice and to recommend measures which will lead to the improvement of its operation.
The committee, chaired by former President of the Assembly, Ambassador Helmut Tuerk, is expected to review the final report submitted by Seascape Consultants Ltd that has taken into account comments submitted to the Authority by 15 October 2016.
Background
The Review Committee was appointed in 2015 to oversee the overall conduct of the review.. At its first meeting in January 2016, it appointed Seascape Consultants Ltd, a UK-based consultancy firm, to assist the committee to conduct the review by carrying out a background study according to the terms of reference agreed by the Assembly. Key inputs included intensive reviews of the Authority, analysis of the questionnaire by member States and structured interviews with stakeholders.
In July 2016, the Assembly took note of the interim report and comments presented by the Committee Chair and in its decision dated 21 July 2016 (ISBA/22/A/11) decided to provide States parties, observers and stakeholders a further opportunity to submit written observations by a 15 October 2016 deadline.
The draft report will be discussed by the Review committee and finalized for presentation to States parties by 15 April 2017.
* *** *