On 12 December 2024, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted its annual Resolution on Oceans and the law of the sea (currently A/79/L.37) with a vote (152-1-2) and Resolution on Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, and related instruments (currently A/79/L.38) without a vote. For further information see reporting of the debate.
Note, paragraph 59 and Annex of the 2024 Resolution: Oceans and the Law of the Sea includes an amendment to the Terms of Reference for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Trust Fund, a mechanism which seeks to assist States in the settlement of disputes through the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The former ‘panel of experts’ tasked with reviewing and making recommendations concerning any application for assistance from the Fund has been replaced with an ‘independent panel’. Key differences include: (1) the composition of the panel (from ‘three persons of the highest professional standing’ selected by the Secretary-General, to ‘the Chairs of the United Nations regional groups for the month on which the panel is convened’) and (2) a now discretionary process (from ‘will establish’ to ‘may engage’ a panel).
De Maribus 