Cyprus underlines before UNGA Sixth Committee the importance of fully respecting UNCLOS

Turning to Chapter IV, she emphasized that sea-level rise is of “fundamental importance”, especially for low-lying coastal States, archipelagic States, small island States and small island developing States
Cyprus underlined on Wednesday, before the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, the importance of fully respecting the UN Convention of the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).
Addressing in her capacity as Head of the Department of International Law at the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus, the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, during the debate on agenda item 80, “Report of the International Law Commission”, Mary-Ann Stavrinides stressed that “Cyprus cannot emphasize enough the indispensability of fully respecting UNCLOS, which constitutes the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.”
Stavrinides welcomed the inclusion of two new topics in the Commission’s programme (“compensation for the damage caused by internationally wrongful acts” and “due diligence in international law”), noting that Cyprus looks forward to “a study firmly rooted in the Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, and in particular, Article 36.”
Turning to Chapter IV, she emphasized that sea-level rise is of “fundamental importance”, especially for low-lying coastal States, archipelagic States, small island States and small island developing States. As an island state itself, she noted, Cyprus “directly experiences the effects of climate-induced sea-level rise” and recognizes its “severe consequences” for territory and sovereignty. She also mentioned that the ICJ has acknowledged that “the consequences of climate change are severe and far-reaching,” posing “an urgent and existential threat.”
Cyprus, she said, follows “a contemporary interpretation that takes into account the fundamental principles of international law, including the preservation of existing rights and the maintenance of legal stability, certainty and predictability”.
Moreover, Cyprus maintains that there is “no rule that prevents States from preserving existing and lawfully established baselines,” and that “the principle of fundamental change of circumstances in Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties is not applicable to maritime delimitation agreements.”
Furthermore, Stavrinides recalled that the ICJ confirmed that States are not obliged to update charts or lists of geographical co-ordinates. In view of this “overwhelming consensus,” Cyprus saw “no necessity of either an interpretative statement or a subsequent agreement” on the matter, as the ICJ opinion “achieves the desired outcome concerning the interpretation of UNCLOS.”
On the issue of statehood, she underlined the importance of “legal stability, security, certainty and predictability”, as well as of “the application of the principles of territorial integrity, sovereign equality of States and permanent sovereignty over natural resources, when ascertaining the legal basis for the continuity of statehood”.
In this respect, she also noted the ICJ’s finding that “once a State is established, the disappearance of one of its constituent elements would not necessarily entail the loss of its statehood.” Cyprus welcomed the Study Group’s conclusion that States may “take all necessary measures in order to preserve their statehood, sovereignty and maritime entitlements.”
On the right of self-determination, she emphasized that the Commission should “preserve the special historical and legal context of the right of self-determination,” which “has always been applied to situations of colonial rule or foreign occupation.”
Addressing Chapter VI, Stavrinides reaffirmed the respect for Article 38(1) of the ICJ Statute, which “recognizes the general principles of law as an autonomous source of international law, and establishes no hierarchy among the principal sources.” Cyprus supported the view that norms can “coexist in different sources of law,” though “such parallel existence should not blur the conceptual distinction” between general principles and customary law. Furthermore, she firmly rejected extending the ‘persistent objector’ rule to general principles, stating that it “has no basis in state practice or in the jurisprudence of international courts and tribunals” and that “its inclusion… would offer no practical benefit.” Cyprus therefore agreed with the Special Rapporteur “that it should be avoided.”
Concluding, she congratulated the International Law Commission and the Special Rapporteur “for their excellent work so far” and expressed hope for “continued constructive dialogue on this topic.”
Source: cna