Responsibilities And Obligations Of Sponsoring States With Respect To Activities In The International Seabed Area

According to Article 153 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(hereinafter referred to as the “UNCLOS”),exploration and exploitation in the international seabed area(hereinafter referred to as the “Area”)shall be carried out by the International Seabed Authority,states parties of the UNCLOS,or state enterprises and natural or juridical persons which possess the nationality of states parties or are effectively controlled by them or their nationals.The above-mentioned shall carry out activities respectively or in association with the Authority.The natural and juridical persons shall be sponsored by the states parties before applying to the International Seabed Authority for exploring and exploiting resources in the Area.If the state party agrees to provide sponsorship for the natural and juridical persons,it becomes a sponsoring state and the sponsored natural and juridical persons become contractors after signing an exploration or exploitation contract with the International Seabed Authority.Although sponsoring states do not directly participate in the activities in the Area,they have to take measures to ensure that the sponsored contractors comply with relevant regulations,allowing smooth mining activities and reducing their own risk as sponsoring states.This paper analyzes the responsibilities and obligations of the sponsoring states in the exploration and exploitation in the international seabed area.The obligations of the sponsoring states include the “obligation to ensure” and “direct obligations”.The “obligation to ensure” shall be satisfied by the sponsoring states through making laws,regulations and taking administrative measures to ensure that the sponsored contractors comply with the relevant regulations and the “direct obligations” shall be satisfied through direct conducts by the sponsoring states themselves.According to the UNCLOS and the Advisory Opinion,sponsoring states are only responsible for damage to the Area due to its own fault.If the state party has taken all necessary measures to ensure that the sponsored natural and juridical persons comply with the UNCLOS,the regulations of the Authority and relevant provisions stipulated in the exploration or exploitation contracts,it shall not be liable for damage caused by any failure by the contractors to comply with relevant regulations.However,it is proved that there is high probability that significant damage may still occur even if sufficient precautions and actions are taken.If the sponsoring state has performed its duties and fulfilledits obligations,but the contractor still has wrongful act and causes damage and is unable to bear the liability,there would be a gap in liability.This paper is divided into four parts:Part ?: Overview of the international seabed area.This part is mainly about the different opinions of the legal status of the international seabed area among different countries,and several exploitation systems raised by them to gain benefits in the Area.It also sorts out the developers of the “Area” subject in relevant international documents.Part ?: Responsibilities and obligations of sponsoring states.This part summarizes the main responsibilities and obligations of the sponsoring states,the conditions and scope of the their liability,and necessary measures they have to take based on the UNCLOS and reaches the conclusion that if the sponsoring states fulfill their obligations,but damage is still caused and the contractor has no ability to bear,there would be a gap of liability.Part ?: Application of the principle of liability without fault in the liabilities of sponsoring states.Based on the problem reflected in part II,this part raises that the principle of liability without fault should be applied when there is a gap of liability.This part is mainly about its basic theory and the necessity and feasibility of its applying.Part ?: China's performance of responsibilities and obligations as a sponsoring state and suggestions for China's activities in the “Area”.This part mainly analyzes China's performance of responsibilities and obligations as a sponsoring state in the international seabed area,and offers some suggestions for activities of China,including strict supervision of the activities of the contractors,establishment of a national deep-sea mining fund to fill the liability for damages while the contractors cannot afford to,and the establishment of a submarine environmental liability insurance to compensate the injured party and ease the burden on the impairer and the state.