Recommendation 713
(1973)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 27 September 1973 (12th Sitting) (see Doc. 3335, report of the Legal Affairs Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 September 1973 (12th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Recalling its Recommendations 585 (1970) on the legal problems raised by the pollution of the sea - consequences of the wreck of the Torrey Canyon, 625 (1971) on the exploration and exploitation of the sea bed and its subsoil, 626 (1971) on the legal aspects of marine pollution, 653 (1972) on the legal status of artificial islands built on the high seas, and 687 (1972) on the carriage of dangerous goods at sea ;
2. Confirming its great interest in a solution of the present problems relating to the law of the sea ;
3. Regretting that, until now, it has received no substantial reply from the Committee of Ministers to Recommendations 625 (1971), 626 (1971) and 653 (1972) mentioned above ;
4. Considering that the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea will take place in 1973 and 1974, probably starting at the end of November in New York ;
5. Considering that the items this conference has on its agenda, such as the breadth of territorial waters, fishing zones and limitations to fishing, the institution of an international regime for the sea bed and the ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction, the preservation of the marine environment and others, call for urgent action at international level ;
6. Deploring that the consensus of opinion on questions concerning the law of the sea, which so long existed among European nations, has disappeared and that such questions even gave rise to proceedings among Council of Europe member States before the International Court of Justice at The Hague ;
7. Regretting that, until now, nothing has been done in the framework of the Council of Europe to reconcile the diverging points of view of member States in relation to the law of the sea ;
8. Considering it desirable that the governments of the Council of Europe member States concert and align their attitudes and, if possible, present common proposals to the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea,
9. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers consider the actual state of the law of the sea, for instance by convening a special meeting, and take appropriate measures to harmonise as far as possible at the United Nations Conference the attitude of European States and of other States which embrace the same principles relating to the law of the sea.
