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Subject: <2/2> SPECIAL COMMISSION ON SEA-LAW TRIBUNAL
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Date: 28 Aug 89 23:41:07 GMT
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criminal offence.  The provision should in no way affect the integrity of the
Tribunal.

     The representative of Brazil said the Tribunal should have the exclusive
authority to waive immunity.

     The Secretary of the Commission said the World Court practice had been
discussed during the negotiations on the Law of the Sea Convention.  There had
been no instance to his knowledge when the World Court had had to invoke a
waiver.

     The representative of the Federal Republic of Germany said there was a
provision in the World Court statute which declared a seat of a member under
investigation to be vacant.  The member could resume the seat on being found
innocent.

     The Chairman said a compromise was necessary.  There seemed to be a trend
towards following the International Court of Justice precedent, and the
Secretariat should contact the court's Registrar on the question and report

back to the Commission.  He thought it might be useful to follow the court's
practice but there could be no explicit rule on waiver without its practice
being studied.

     Draft Article 6 (Reimbursement of Duty or Tax)

     The French proposal regarding the article on tax reimbursement would have
the phrase "goods and services" replace "property" in the fourth line of the
article to read that the "Tribunal shall not, as a general rule, claim
exemption from excise duties and from taxes on the sale of movable and
immovable property which form part of the price to be paid, nevertheless when
the Tribunal is making important purchases of goods and services...".

     A representative of the Legal Office said the article had been based on
language of the Convention on Privileges and Immunities and referred to duty
relating to movable and immovable property.  Normally there would be no tax as
such but reimbursement would be required on important purchases.  The term
"movable and immovable" did not cover services.

     The representative of France said the issue was one of policy.

     The representative of the Federal Republic of Germany said she had
consulted the Ministry of Finance of her country and had been told the French
proposal was important.  Her delegation therefore supported it.

     The representative of Australia said perhaps the word "property" should
remain in fourth line and the phrase "all services" should be inserted after
"property" in the second and fourth lines.

     The Chairman suggested that the representatives of France and Australia
should get together on the issue and come up with an acceptable formula next
week.

     Article 18 (Final Provisions)

     The representative of Switzerland asked why references to ratification
and signature of the protocol had been left out in the article on final
provisions.

     The representative of the Federal Republic of Germany said the provisions
of the draft protocol on privileges and the headquarters agreement between the
Tribunal and the Federal Republic of Germany should be harmonized.

     The representative of Malaysia supported the Swiss position.

     SATYAN NANDAN, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for
the Law of the Sea, said one reason why a reference to ratification had been
left out was to ensure the expeditious operation of the Tribunal.

 * Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)


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