Select committee: International Relations and Defence Committee
Recommendation 12
2nd Report - UNCLOS: the law of the sea in the 21st century
Published 1 Mar 2022
Paragraph 91
International Relations and Defence Committee UNCLOS: fit for purpose in the 21st century? All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
UNCLOS and related instruments have generally been successful at tackling piracy, but there remain challenges. Acts of piracy often originate from the land and cannot be solved by agreements focused only on the sea. However, supplementary agreements including the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation have enhanced the provisions of UNCLOS, and operations combating piracy along the coast of Somalia provide an example of how piracy can be successfully addressed in practice. The Government should further enhance its capacity building activities to assist other coastal states to maintain the good order of the oceans and suppress maritime security threats, including piracy and armed robbery at sea.
From: International Relations and Defence Committee, 2nd Report - UNCLOS: the law of the sea in the 21st century, paragraph 91, 1 March 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 9 June 2022 (deadline 27 May 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government agrees with parts of the Committee's report, including that UNCLOS was "a fundamental step forward", but disagrees on using the annual meetings of states parties for substantive issues and takes a cautious approach on fixing baselines.
- On amending UNCLOS, the Government says that doing so "would be very difficult to achieve and is not considered the most effective option", and is instead working through routes within the UNCLOS framework, including a new implementing Agreement.
- It states that it "does not agree" that the annual meeting of states parties is an appropriate forum for substantive issues, citing no consensus among states parties.
- On sea level rise, the Government "intends to take a cautious approach" to fixing baselines, stating its general view that baselines are ambulatory and that it will keep this position under review.
- On the 1986 Convention on Conditions for Registration of Ships, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is in the early stages of reviewing the UK's position and aims to finish this study this year.