Effectiveness Of The Responsibilities Of The United Nations Commission On The Limits Of The Continental Shelf And Its Recommendations

The establishment of Outer limits of the outer continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles has been a heated topic for international law academia in recent years. Updated on 10th August 2009, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS)received 51 submissions and 44 pieces of preliminary information. Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia which have disputes concerning outer continental shelf boundaries with China have made submissions to the commission.CLCS was established by UN under the Convention on the Law of the Sea, it is a specialized institution built up for the delimitation of outer continental shelf, which has been playing a vital role in the delimitation of the continental shelf of varies costal states.This article uses methods of documentation to gather information on the nature of CLCS published by academic circles from home and broad, uses case study methods to discuss proposals of delimiting the outer limits of the outer continental shelf presented by different countries and uses comparative research methods to analyze varies principles generally accepted by the international community in delimiting the outer continental shelf. It's based on the above analysis that the author presents her own view on the nature of CLCS and the force of its recommendations. The practice and its recommendations of CLCS proves that only the commission has reasonable grounds to believe there is no sovereignty disputes existing in concerning continental shelf that shall the commission functions according to the Convention of Law of the Sea, where sovereign states authorized their wills to the commission. Therefore, the commission can not override above sovereign states but give considerations and make recommendations according to the Convention of Law of the Sea.