Prohibition of the discharge of waste oil in the sea

Opinion | Doc. 311 | 22 September 1954

Committee

Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights

Rapporteur :

Mr Henri ROLIN, Belgium, SOC

Origin

Seo 6th Session, 1954; Doc. 246 (Request for inclusion in the agenda), Doe. 310 (Report of the Committee on Economic Questions) and 28th Sitting, 23rd September, 1954 (Dobate on the Opinion). 1954 - 6th Session - Second part

Thesaurus

A Exposé des motifs

1. On 8th July, 1954, the Bureau of the Assembly referred the question of the prohibition of the discharge of waste oil into the sea to the Committee on Economic Questions for report and to the Committee on Legal and Administrative Questions for an opinion.

2. The Committee on Legal and Administrative Questions examined the draft recommendation adopted by the Committee on Economic Questions on 22nd September, 1954. The Committee heard a statement by Mr. Callaghan, the author of the motion tabled in the Assembly (Doc. 246). The following Opinion was subsequently adopted unanimously.

B

Amendment A (to the draft opinion)Opinion

The Committee on Legal and. Administrative Questions, having considered the Report of the Committee on Economic Questions for the prohibition of the discharge of waste oil into the sea (Doc. 310), ventures to put forward the following submissions :

1 Under the terms of Article 14 of the International Convention for the prevention of pollution of the sea by oil, that Convention remained open for signature for only three months from 12th May, 1954. This time-limit has now expired, but the Convention remains open for acceptance.

2 A number of signatures were made subject to acceptance or ratification, and these acceptances, which are of vital importance, have not yet been effected.

3 The International Conference for the prevention of pollution of the sea by oil which met in London from 26th April, 1954, to 12th May, 1954, decided that, pending the coming into operation of the Convention, Governments should take certain immediate steps set forth in Resolutions Nos. 6 and 7 of the Conference.

4 Action taken by individual members of the Consultative Assembly in their national Parliaments would be a valuable addition to any action which the Committee of Ministers may take in this matter.

Accordingly, the Committee on Legal and Administrative Questions requests the Assembly to delete the last paragraph of the draft recommendation of the Committee on Economic Questions (Doc. 310) and to substitute for it the following :

" Recommends that the Committee of Ministers should urge those Governments which have not yet signed the International Convention for the prevention of pollution of the sea by oil, signed in London on 12th May, 1954, or have only done so subject to ratification or acceptance, to effect such acceptance and, pending the coming into operation of the Convention, to take certain immediate steps set forth in Resolution No. 6 as appended to the Pinal Act of the Conference ; and

Draws the attention of Representatives to the desirability of informing their respective Parliaments of the very great importance which certain Member States of the Council of Europe attach to this question. "