The first semester academic salon of the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University in 2012-2013 is scheduled to be held on November 22 in the Law School Room 317. This academic salon lecture was given by Associate Professor Zhang Hui of the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University. The topic was “International Seabed Regional Guaranty Obligations and Responsibilities”. Professor Yu Minyou was the host of this lecture.

Teacher Zhang first introduced the background of the issue of the obligations and responsibilities of the sponsoring countries of the international seabed region. This problem is caused by the participation of small countries such as Nauru and Tonga in the development of the international seabed region. Due to the limited technical capabilities and economic strength of these countries, they will not be able to take responsibility in the event of an accident. Accordingly, Nauru submitted to the International Seabed Authority the Proposal to Request Advice from the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on the Liability and Liability of the Guarantor. At the request of Nauru, the International Seabed Authority submitted a request for consultation to the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on 11 May 2010. The Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea issued an advisory opinion on 1 February 2011.

Then, Teacher Zhang analyzed the obligations of the sponsoring country in detail. Mr. Zhang analyzed the scope of the obligations of the sponsoring country, the criteria and factors in the performance of obligations, the measures to be taken to fulfill the obligations, and the equality of performance obligations. Mr. Zhang believed that the obligation of the sponsoring state was an obligation of conduct rather than an obligation of result, and such obligation was an obligation of reasonable attention. The obligations of the sponsoring State provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea are the minimum standards, not the highest standards. Judging factors in the performance of guarantee obligations include taking preventive measures, adopting best environmental practices and implementing environmental impact assessments. The measures that the sponsoring State should take to fulfil its obligations are measures taken within its legal system and must include the development of laws and regulations and administrative measures. Countries should follow the same standards when fulfilling their obligations, whether they are developed or developing countries, and only on the issue of prevention methods can they be determined by the capabilities of the state.

Then, Zhang explained the responsibility of the sponsoring country. Mr. Zhang explained this from six aspects: the constituent elements of liability, the exemption of liability, the principle of imputation, the form and scope of compensation, joint liability and supplementary liability. Zhang pointed out that the constituent elements of liability include three points, namely, failure to perform obligations, damage and causality. If the sponsoring State has taken all necessary and reasonable measures in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, it may be exempted from liability. The liability of the sponsoring State arises only when it violates its reasonable duty of care. The scope of compensation should be equal to the actual damage, and the form of compensation includes restitution, compensation and satisfaction. At the same time, the advisory opinion excludes the application of joint liability and supplementary liability.

Finally, Teacher Zhang summarized the impact of the development of the guarantee rules and China's response. Zhang mentioned that the guarantee rules will guide the domestic legislation of each country and will also promote more countries to engage in the development of international seabed areas. In how China should deal with this issue, Zhang believed that, first of all, China should introduce relevant domestic legislation, and should adopt a "single-line law model" and "follow-up legislation." Second, China must establish a special regulatory mechanism. Third, the legal status of the Oceanic Association should be changed to separate the functions of the Oceanic Association.

In the discussion and Q&A session, Professor Yang Zewei suggested that although the advisory opinion has a certain role, it is not binding. Is it possible to formulate a specific set of rules in the international future? If this rule is formulated, what is the position of my country? Professor Yi Xianhe expressed concern about the tendency of countries in the current international forum to reduce the responsibility of the sponsoring country. He believes that if the obligations imposed by the final rule on the sponsoring state are too small, the interests of the injured country will not be effectively guaranteed after the disaster. Associate Professor Shi Lei questioned the practice of the International Seabed Authority to allocate reserved areas to other countries. He considered this to be a challenge to the “parallel development system”. Professor Zhang gave a serious response to these questions one by one. Due to the time, the salon event had to end, and many listeners were still unfinished, and people had to look forward to the next salon event.

(China International Law Website Correspondent: Ye Quan)

Nov 30 2012