- Jul 2, 2018
- 2,704
 THE GLOBAL ASSEMBLY | RESOLUTION PROPOSAL FORM THE ASSEMBLY |
[AUTHOR]: Commonwealth of Australia [DATE]: 09/1996 [TYPE OF RESOLUTION]: BINDING [TOPIC OF DISCUSSION]: Antarctica [DRAFT RESOLUTION]: The General Assembly, RECOGNISING that it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord; ACKNOWLEDGING the substantial contributions to scientific knowledge resulting from international cooperation in scientific investigation in Antarctica; CONVINCED that the establishment of a firm foundation for the continuation and development of such cooperation on the basis of freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica accords with the interests of science and the progress of all mankind; CONVINCED also that a resolution ensuring the use of Antarctica for peaceful purposes only and the continuance of international harmony in Antarctica will further the purposes and principles embodied by the Global Assembly; Have agreed as follows: Article I: 1. Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. There shall be prohibited any measures of a military nature, such as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military maneuvers, as well as the testing of any type of weapons. 2. The present resolution shall not prevent the use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes, such as for logistical purposes. Article II: Freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation, shall continue, subject to the provisions of the present resolution. Article III: 1. To promote international cooperation in scientific investigation in Antarctica, as provided for in Article II of the present resolution, the Global Assembly members agree that, to the greatest extent feasible and practicable: (a) information regarding plans for scientific programs in Antarctica shall be exchanged to permit maximum economy and efficiency of operations; (b) scientific personnel shall be exchanged in Antarctica between expeditions and stations; (c) scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available. 2. In implementing this Article, every encouragement shall be given to the establishment of cooperative working relations between national organisations having a scientific or technical interest in Antarctica. Article IV: 1. Antarctica shall remain the sovereign territory of no nation and will not be recognised by the Global Assembly as the sovereign territory of any nation. Claims can be made for territory in Antarctica by Global Assembly members whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX and/or by nations who are located adjacent to Antarctica, which includes: the Commonwealth of Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa, the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Chile. Claims can be recognised by other Global Assembly members but are to remain unenforced sovereignty as outlined in paragraph 2 of this article. 2. No acts or activities taking place while the present resolution is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica or create any rights of sovereignty in Antarctica. Article V: 1. Any disposal in Antarctica of radioactive waste material shall be prohibited. 2. In the event of international agreements concerning the use of nuclear energy, including the disposal of radioactive waste material, the rules established under such agreements shall apply in Antarctica. Article VI: The provisions of the present resolution shall apply to the area south of 60-degree South Latitude, including all ice shelves, but nothing in the present resolution shall prejudice or in any way affect the rights, or the exercise of the rights, of any State under international law with regard to the high seas within that area. Article VII: 1. To promote the objectives and ensure the observance of the provisions of the present resolution, each Global Assembly member whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings referred to in Article IX of the resolution shall have the right to designate observers to carry out any inspection provided for by the present Article. Observers shall be nationals of the Global Assembly member which designate them. The names of observers shall be communicated to every other Global Assembly member having the right to designate observers, and like notice shall be given of the termination of their appointment. 2. Each observer designated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall have complete freedom of access at any time to any or all areas of Antarctica. 3. All areas of Antarctica, including all stations, installations and equipment within those areas, and all ships and aircraft at points of discharging or embarking cargoes or personnel in Antarctica, shall be open at all times to inspection by any observers designated in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article. 4. Aerial observation may be carried out at any time over any or all areas of Antarctica by any of the Global Assembly members having the right to designate observers. 5. Each Global Assembly member shall, at the time when the present resolution enters into force for it, inform the other Global Assembly members, and thereafter shall give them notice in advance, of (a) all expeditions to and within Antarctica, on the part of its ships or nationals, and all expeditions to Antarctica organized in or proceeding from its territory; (b) all stations in Antarctica occupied by its nationals; and (c) any military personnel or equipment intended to be introduced by it into Antarctica subject to the conditions prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article I of the present resolution. Article VIII: 1. To facilitate the exercise of their functions under the present resolution, and without prejudice to the respective positions of the Global Assembly members relating to jurisdiction over all other persons in Antarctica, observers designated under paragraph 1 of Article VII and scientific personnel exchanged under subparagraph 1(b) of Article III of the resolution and members of the staffs accompanying any such persons, shall be subject only to the jurisdiction of the Global Assembly member of which they are nationals in respect of all acts or omissions occurring while they are in Antarctica for the purpose of exercising their functions. 2. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, and pending the adoption of measures in pursuance of subparagraph 1(e) of Article IX, the Global Assembly member concerned in any case of dispute with regard to the exercise of jurisdiction in Antarctica shall immediately consult together with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable solution. Article IX: 1. Representatives of the Global Assembly who have a vested interest in Antarctica shall meet at the City of Hobart within two months after the date of entry into force of the resolution, and thereafter at suitable intervals and places, for the purpose of exchanging information, consulting together on matters of common interest pertaining to Antarctica, and formulating and considering, and recommending to their Governments, measures in furtherance of the principles and objectives of the resolution, including measures regarding: (a) use of Antarctica for peaceful purposes only; (b) facilitation of scientific research in Antarctica; (c) facilitation of international scientific cooperation in Antarctica; (d) facilitation of the exercise of the rights of inspection provided for in Article VII of the resolution; (e) questions relating to the exercise of jurisdiction in Antarctica; (f) preservation and conservation of living resources in Antarctica. 2. Each Global Assembly member which has a vested interest in Antarctica shall be entitled to appoint representatives to participate in the meetings referred to in paragraph 1 of the present Article, during such time as that member demonstrates its interest in Antarctica by conducting substantial scientific research activity there, such as the establishment of a scientific station or the despatch of a scientific expedition. 3. Reports from the observers referred to in Article VII of the present resolution shall be transmitted to the representatives of the Global Assembly members participating in the meetings referred to in paragraph 1 of the present Article. 4. The measures referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall become effective when approved by all the Global Assembly members whose representatives were entitled to participate in the meetings held to consider those measures. 5. Any or all of the rights established in the present resolution may be exercised from the date of entry into force of the resolution whether or not any measures facilitating the exercise of such rights have been proposed, considered or approved as provided in this Article. Article X: Each of the Global Assembly member undertakes to exert appropriate efforts, consistent with international law, to the end that no one engages in any activity in Antarctica contrary to the principles or purposes of the present resolution. Article XI: 1. If any dispute arises between two or more of the Global Assembly members concerning the interpretation or application of the present resolution, those Global Assembly members shall consult among themselves with a view to having the dispute resolved by negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement or other peaceful means of their own choice. 2. Any dispute of this character not so resolved shall, with the consent, in each case, of all parties to the dispute, be referred to the International Court of Justice for settlement; but failure to reach agreement on reference to the International Court shall not absolve parties to the dispute from the responsibility of continuing to seek to resolve it by any of the various peaceful means referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. Articles XII: 1. The present resolution may be modified or amended at any time by unanimous agreement of the Global Assembly members whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX. Any such modification or amendment shall enter into force when the Global Assembly has received notice from all such Global Assembly members that they have ratified it. 2. (a) If after the expiration of thirty years from the date of entry into force of the present resolution, any of the Global Assembly members whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX so requests by a communication addressed to the Global Assembly, a session of the Global Assembly shall be held as soon as practicable to review the operation of the resolution. (b) Any modification or amendment to the present resolution which is approved at such a session by a majority of the Global Assembly members there represented, including a majority of those whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX, shall be communicated by the Global Assembly to all the Global Asssembly immediately after the termination of the session and shall enter into force in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of the present Article. Article XIII: 1. The present resolution shall come into force upon approval of the majority of the Global Assembly members done via voting. 2. The resolution shall be deposited with the Global Assembly, hereby designated as the Global Assembly Treaty Office. Article XIV: The present resolution, done in the English language, shall be deposited in the archives of the Global Assembly. |
