unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (08/29/89)
criminal offence. The provision should in no way affect the integrity of the
Tribunal.
The representative of Brazil said the Tribunal should have the exclusive
authority to waive immunity.
The Secretary of the Commission said the World Court practice had been
discussed during the negotiations on the Law of the Sea Convention. There had
been no instance to his knowledge when the World Court had had to invoke a
waiver.
The representative of the Federal Republic of Germany said there was a
provision in the World Court statute which declared a seat of a member under
investigation to be vacant. The member could resume the seat on being found
innocent.
The Chairman said a compromise was necessary. There seemed to be a trend
towards following the International Court of Justice precedent, and the
Secretariat should contact the court's Registrar on the question and report
back to the Commission. He thought it might be useful to follow the court's
practice but there could be no explicit rule on waiver without its practice
being studied.
Draft Article 6 (Reimbursement of Duty or Tax)
The French proposal regarding the article on tax reimbursement would have
the phrase "goods and services" replace "property" in the fourth line of the
article to read that the "Tribunal shall not, as a general rule, claim
exemption from excise duties and from taxes on the sale of movable and
immovable property which form part of the price to be paid, nevertheless when
the Tribunal is making important purchases of goods and services...".
A representative of the Legal Office said the article had been based on
language of the Convention on Privileges and Immunities and referred to duty
relating to movable and immovable property. Normally there would be no tax as
such but reimbursement would be required on important purchases. The term
"movable and immovable" did not cover services.
The representative of France said the issue was one of policy.
The representative of the Federal Republic of Germany said she had
consulted the Ministry of Finance of her country and had been told the French
proposal was important. Her delegation therefore supported it.
The representative of Australia said perhaps the word "property" should
remain in fourth line and the phrase "all services" should be inserted after
"property" in the second and fourth lines.
The Chairman suggested that the representatives of France and Australia
should get together on the issue and come up with an acceptable formula next
week.
Article 18 (Final Provisions)
The representative of Switzerland asked why references to ratification
and signature of the protocol had been left out in the article on final
provisions.
The representative of the Federal Republic of Germany said the provisions
of the draft protocol on privileges and the headquarters agreement between the
Tribunal and the Federal Republic of Germany should be harmonized.
The representative of Malaysia supported the Swiss position.
SATYAN NANDAN, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for
the Law of the Sea, said one reason why a reference to ratification had been
left out was to ensure the expeditious operation of the Tribunal.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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The Chairman said a possible conclusion from the Commission's examination
of the question could be to recommend to the meeting of States parties to the
Convention (provided for in the Convention of the Law of the Sea) that it
authorized the Tribunal to conclude relationship agreements with those
bodies. One task of the Special Commission could be to identify the most
important subject matters that would have to be regulated by each of those
three agreements and those to be covered. On the basis of the list of
subjects, the Secretariat could be asked to prepare drafts of such
relationship agreements which could be attached as annexes to the
recommendations to be submitted to the meeting of States parties.
The Secretary then introduced the document which among others, states
that the essential relationship agreements that the Tribunal might enter into
with other international organizations, particularly the United Nations and
its agencies, would be with those that had competences in aspects of the Law
of the Sea and related ocean affairs. It also states that exchange of
information was central to relationship agreements and that there should be
co-operation with the Security Council of the United Nations.
The representative of Tanzania asked whether the Chairman, in his
statement, was drawing a line between relationship agreements with the United
Nations, the Tribunal and the International Court of Justice on one hand, and
with specialized agencies, such as the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), on the other.
The Chairman said there had to be a differentiation of the two
categories. There were provisions in the Convention for such agreements.
There were provisions also on the functions of the Secretary-General with
regard to the depository of agreements. There was the question of the use of
United Nations laissez-passer by Tribunal officials. A study of the
Secretariat paper showed the appropriateness of having relationship agreements
with specialized agencies as well. It should not be mandatory for the
Tribunal to do so, he said. Responding to the question of the representative
of Tanzania, the Chairman said the issue could be taken up after the
examination of the document.
The representative of the Philippines said his delegation favoured a
study of the subject, adding that the Secretariat could be requested to
provide a paper on issues involved in relationship agreements.
The Chairman requested the Secretariat to prepare an indicative list of
such issues.
The representative of the Federal Republic of Germany suggested that the
issue should be taken up in a pragmatic way, starting with the relationship
agreement with the United Nations.
The representative of Brazil said the Commission should consider the
relationship of the Tribunal with other international organizations.
The Chairman said the Tribunal would need the co-operation of the United
Nations from its inception, and it would be necessary to have a draft
relationship agreement with the United Nations as well as the International
Sea-Bed Authority.
The representative of Yugoslavia said he would like a preliminary opinion
as to whether it was necessary to have different agreements with different
agencies or with the United Nations in general. He also asked whether it was
better to conclude bilateral agreements with specialized agencies or a
multilateral agreement to cover all interested bodies.
The Chairman said the questions raised by the representative of
Yugoslavia could be answered in due course.
A representative of the United Nations Legal Office said the issues were
difficult. He said that, generally speaking, relationship agreements between
the United Nations and international bodies, such as the Organization of
African Unity (OAU), were concluded after authorization by the
General Assembly. He said the Commission should first identify the issues and
then decide how best to approach them.
The representative of the Sudan said it was only after the main issues
had been identified that the Commission would be in a position to indicate to
States parties what form the agreements should take.
The Chairman proposed that the Commission should take up the question of
the indicative list of issues at its next meeting.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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