The resources of the seabed beyond national jurisdiction are the common heritage of mankind

Background

On 1 November 1967, Malta's Ambassador to the United Nations, Arvid Pardo, asked the General Assembly to open its eyes to a looming conflict over the oceans, speaking of super-Power rivalry spreading to the seas, of pollution and of conflicting legal claims. His speech began a process that spanned 15 years and included the creation of the United Nations Seabed Committee, a treaty banning nuclear weapons on the seabed, and the adoption by the General Assembly of the declaration that all resources of the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction are the common heritage of mankind. That process led to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea deals with mining of minerals lying on the deep ocean floor outside nationally regulated ocean areas, in what is commonly known as the international seabed area. The International Seabed Authority is already established and functioning, and it organizes and controls activities in the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction with a view to administering its resources. Alongside it, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has competence to settle ocean-related disputes arising from the application or interpretation of the Convention, and the Convention itself was opened for signature on 10 December 1982 at Montego Bay, Jamaica.