Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS)
Purpose, functions and sessions

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Purpose of the Commission

    The purpose of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (the Commission or CLCS) is to facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention) in respect of the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. Under the Convention, the coastal State shall establish the outer limits of its continental shelf where it extends beyond 200 miles on the basis of the recommendation of the Commission ("mile" throughout this text refers to the international nautical mile of 1,852 metres). The Commission shall make recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of those limits; its recommendations and actions shall not prejudice matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts.

Functions of the Commission

    Annex II to the Convention contains the provisions governing the Commission. As set forth in article 3 of Annex II, the functions of the Commission are:

(a) To consider the data and other material submitted by coastal States concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf in areas where those limits extend beyond 200 nautical miles, and to make recommendations in accordance with article 76 and the Statement of Understanding adopted on 29 August 1980 by the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea;

(b) To provide scientific and technical advice, if requested by the coastal State concerned during preparation of such data.

    In accordance with article 76(8), the Commission shall make recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of the outer limits of their continental shelf. The limits of the shelf established by a coastal State on the basis of these recommendations shall be final and binding.

Sessions of the Commission

Note: The meetings of the Commission, its subcommissions and subsidiary bodies shall be held in private, unless the Commission decides otherwise (Rule 23 - Public and private meetings - of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission).

    The Commission ordinarily meets twice a year, in the spring and fall, at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

    The first session of the Commission was held at United Nations Headquarters in New York, 16 - 20 June 1997, and resulted in the election of the officers of the Commission, and the adoption of several of the rules of procedure (See Statement of the Chairman of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on the Progress of Work in the Commission, CLCS/1).

    At its second session, 2 - 12 September 1997, a second reading of the Rules of Procedure which had been amended was completed, as well as further discussion of those rules about which agreement could not be reached. The Modus operandi of the Commission was formulated and adopted, and preliminary work was done on the Scientific and Technical Guidelines of the Commission, which are aimed at assisting coastal States to prepare their submissions regarding the outer limits of their continental shelf. The determination of these criteria involves complex technical and scientific data which must be considered by the Commission. The Commission also requested the opinion of the Legal Counsel that the General Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations was applicable to the members mutatis mutandis as experts on mission. (See Statement of the Chairman, CLCS/4). The opinion was obtained in March 1998. (See Rules of Procedure for further discussion of the opinion.)

    At the third session, 4 - 15 May 1998, after the preliminary work was done by the technical working groups , the Commission established an Editorial Working Group on its Scientific and Technical Guidelines. A first draft of the document was completed before the end of the session. It was decided to continue the work intersessionally, and to incorporate all further changes to the text at the next session. (See Statement of the Chairman, CLCS/7)

    During its fourth session, 31 August - 4 September 1998, the Commission resumed its work on the Scientific and Technical Guidelines and decided to adopt them provisionally (CLCS/L.6). It was also agreed that pending formal adoption at the fifth session, the Guidelines could be provisionally applied. The parts of the text subject to further consideration would be indicated by square brackets. (See Statement of the Chairman, CLCS/9)

    At its fifth session, from 3 - 14 May 1999, the Commission adopted the final text of the Scientific and Technical Guidelines on a provisional basis, and the text published in document CLCS/11. An extensive exchange of views took place, particularly on those parts of the text on which consensus had not yet been reached. It was also determined that all issues raised at the 1993 and 1995 meetings of experts on the continental shelf were addressed in the Guidelines.

    Several States had addressed letters to the Commission containing comments to the Guidelines. The comments were translated and issued as conference room papers intended only for the internal use of the Commission so that its members might consider them before taking a decision on the Guidelines (See Statement of the Chairman, CLCS/12).

    The sixth session, during which the Guidelines were finalized after extensive discussion during the session, was held from 30 August - 3 September 1999. (See Statement of the Chairman, CLCS/18)

    The seventh session, held from 1 - 5 May 2000, began with an open meeting held by the Commission intended to point out to policymakers and legal advisors what benefits the coastal States may derive from implementing the provisions of article 76, as well as to explain to the experts in marine sciences who are involved in the preparation of submissions how the Commission considers that the Scientific and Technical Guidelines should be applied in practice.

    The remainder of the session concentrated on the question of training, especially for those in developing coastal States who would be responsible for the preparation of submissions to the Commission. The Commission also added several provisions to the Rules of Procedure regarding the issue of confidentiality. (See Statement of the Chairman, CLCS/21)

    At its eighth session, from 28 August - 1 September 2000, the Commission finalized an outline for a training course to assist States in preparing the submission (CLCS/24 and Corr.1). It also continued its development of the Rules of Procedure on the issue of confidentiality, resulting in the issuance of the revised Rules (CLCS/3/Rev.3) in February 2001. (See Statement of the Chairman, CLCS/25)

    The ninth session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf was held from 21 to 25 May 2001. The main tasks before the Commission were to address issues concerning training, as well as procedures for consideration of submissions at the sub-commission level (see Statement of the Chairman, CLCS/29).  At this session, a document on the internal procedures for sub-commissions formed for the examination of submissions by coastal States was adopted (CLCS/L.12).

    On 20 December 2001, the Russian Federation made a submission to the Commission.  It was the first submission received by the Commission since its first election in 1997.  It contained data and other information on the proposed outer limits of the continental shelf of the Russian Federation beyond 200 nautical miles in the Central Arctic Ocean, in the Barents and Bering Seas and in the Sea of Okhotsk. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Rule 49 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission (CLCS/3/Rev. 3), the Secretary-General circulated a communication to all States-Members of the United Nations to make public the coordinates of the proposed outer limits of the continental shelf pursuant to the submission of the Russian Federation.  In accordance with paragraph 1 of Rule 50, the tenth session of the Commission was scheduled to be held three months after the date of the publication by the Secretary-General of the proposed outer limits of the continental shelf related to the submission.

    In response to the note verbale of the Secretary-General, communications were received from Canada, Denmark, Japan, Norway and the United States of America. The contents of these communications were being circulated to all Member States and were communicated to the Commission at its tenth session.  These communications may be found at:
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/commission_submissions.htm.

    The tenth session of the Commission was held from 25 March to 12 April 2002.  The main item on the agenda of the Commission was the consideration of the submission by the Russian Federation (see Statement of the Chairman, CLCS/32).

    The plenary of the Commission met from 25 to 28 March, during which a subcommission was established, in accordance with para. 3 of Rule 49 of the Rules of Procedure, to consider the submission, and to prepare the recommendations of the Commission.  The subcommission met from 28 March to 12 April, and decided to continue its deliberations from 10 to 14 June, pending receipt of additional information requested from the Russian Federation regarding its submission.  The recommendations of the subcommission were forwarded through the Secretariat to the eleventh session of the Commission, which took place from 24 to 28 June.

    Before the eleventh session was held, the election of the 21 members of the Commission took place on 23 April 2002, at the twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention.  For information regarding the election of the new membership, see: http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/commission_2002elections.htm).  The meeting also granted observer status to the Commission.

    The eleventh session marked the inauguration of the five-year term of office of the newly-elected membership of the Commission.  After some amendments, the recommendations of the Commission submitted by the Subcommission were adopted by the Commission by consensus and were submitted to the Russian Federation and to the Secretary-General (see Statement of the Chairman, CLCS/34).

    The short summary of the recommendations is contained in the Report of the Secretary-General to the Fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly under the agenda item Oceans and the Law of the Sea (A/57/57/Add.1, paras. 38-41).

    The twelfth session of the Commission held from 28 April to 2 May 2003 dealt with issues of the consolidation of the rules of procedure, issues of confidentiality in the consideration of a submission and the contents of recommendations made by the Commission to coastal States as well as with matters related to advice to coastal States and training.

Note: Information on the progress in the work of the Commission is contained in the statements by the Chairman.