Select committee: International Relations and Defence Committee
Conclusion 45
2nd Report - UNCLOS: the law of the sea in the 21st century
Published 1 Mar 2022
Paragraph 249
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 ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Whether maritime autonomous vehicles can be classified as warships or not will have significant implications for their use, including their protection from seizure by other states. In the absence of international regulation, the Royal Navy’s practice has been to register vessels in such a way to emphasise they are state owned and operated, providing them with sovereign immunity while ensuring the state can be held accountable for their actions. As other states begin to develop and use maritime autonomous vehicles, it will be important for the UK to work with like-minded partners to regulate these technologies with reference to these principles. Once again, the Royal Navy’s practical approach to ensuring equivalency with the provisions of UNCLOS is sensible and to be commended.
From: International Relations and Defence Committee, 2nd Report - UNCLOS: the law of the sea in the 21st century, paragraph 249, 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.