The continental shelf of Antarctica:legal implications for a regime on mineral resources

摘要

This study will deal with the continental shelf as a factor in the discussions and agreements concerning the establishment of a regime for mineral resources. The regime's area of application, which is currently under negotiation by the Consultative Party nations~1 is directly linked to a series of problems which are influenced by: the general principles of the law of the sea which are applicable to Antarctica; the rights and positions of States, both considered individually and as participants in the Antarctic System; the general principles of the Antarctic Treaty - and particularly those which relate to the legal authority of the Consultative Parties, taking into account the practices they have followed; as well as new developments in international law regarding the concept of the common heritage of mankind as it applies to the area of the sea-bed and the ocean floor, and their mineral resources (General Assembly Resolution 2749 and Article 136 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention).