Select committee: International Relations and Defence Committee
Conclusion 50
2nd Report - UNCLOS: the law of the sea in the 21st century
Published 1 Mar 2022
Paragraph 276
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)
Where there are overlapping claims to territorial seas and exclusive economic zones, UNCLOS includes provisions for delimiting them, but these were the result of considerable compromise and in reality, they are vague. Nonetheless, the majority of maritime boundaries between states have been agreed. In some instances where agreement has not been reached, dispute settlement is needed, but as the 2013 arbitration brought by the Philippines against China shows, states may not cooperate with the findings of dispute settlement mechanisms. This repeats the need for states to engage in dialogue with each other and work together to resolve difficulties peacefully.
From: International Relations and Defence Committee, 2nd Report - UNCLOS: the law of the sea in the 21st century, paragraph 276, 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.