Section 135p. 135

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME I

President and such other officers as may be required.

They shall hold office until a new President and other

officers are elected at the next regular session.

5. A majority of the members of the Assembly shall

constitute a quorum.

6. Each member of the Assembly shall have one vote.

7.

Decisions

on

questions

of

procedure,

including

decisions to convene special sessions of the Assembly,

shall be taken by a majority of the members present and

voting.

8. Decisions on questions of substance shall be taken by a

two-thirds majority of the members present and voting,

provided that such majority includes a majority of the

members participating in the session. When the issue

arises as to whether a question is one of substance or not,

that question shall be treated as one of substance unless

otherwise decided by the Assembly by the majority

required for decisions on questions of substance.

9. When a question of substance comes up for voting for

the first time, the President may, and shall, if requested

by at least one fifth of the members of the Assembly,

defer the issue of taking a vote on that question for a

period not exceeding five calendar days. This rule may be

applied only once to any question, and shall not be

applied so as to defer the question beyond the end of the

session.

10. Upon a written request addressed to the President

and sponsored by at least one fourth of the members of

the Authority for an advisory opinion on the conformity

with this Convention of a proposal before the Assembly

on any matter, the Assembly shall request the Seabed

Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the

Law of the Sea to give an advisory opinion thereon and

shall defer voting on that proposal pending receipt of the

advisory opinion by the Chamber. If the advisory opinion

is not received before the final week of the session in

which it is requested, the Assembly shall decide when it

will meet to vote upon the deferred proposal.

Article 160. Powers and functions

1. The Assembly, as the sole organ of the Authority

consisting of all the members, shall be considered the

supreme organ of the Authority to which the other

principal

organs

shall be accountable as specifically

provided for in this Convention. The Assembly shall have

the power to establish general policies in conformity with

the relevant provisions of this Convention on any question

or matter within the competence of the Authority.

2. In addition, the powers and functions of the Assembly

shall be:

(a) to elect the members of the Council in accordance

with article 161;

(b)

to

elect

the

Secretary-General from among the

candidates proposed by the Council;

(c) to elect, upon the recommendation of the Council, the

members of the Governing Board of the Enterprise and

the Director-General of the Enterprise;

(d)

to

establish

such

subsidiary

organs

as

it

finds

necessary for the exercise of its functions in accordance

with this Part. In the composition of these subsidiary

organs due account shall be taken of the principle of

equitable

geographical

distribution

and

of

special

interests

and

the

need

for

members

qualified and

competent in the relevant technical questions dealt with

by such organs;

(e)

to

assess

the

contributions

of members to the

administrative budget of the Authority in accordance

with an agreed scale of assessment based upon the scale

used for the regular budget of the United Nations until

the Authority shall have sufficient income from other

sources to meet its administrative expenses;

(f) (i) to consider and approve, upon the recommendation

of the Council, the rules, regulations and procedures on

the equitable sharing of financial and other economic

benefits derived from activities in the Area and the

payments and contributions made pursuant to article 82,

taking into particular consideration the interests and

needs of developing States and peoples who have not

attained full independence or other self-governing status.

If the Assembly does not approve the recommendations

of the Council, the Assembly shall return them to the

Council for reconsideration in the light of the views

expressed by the Assembly;

(ii) to consider and approve the rules, regulations and

procedures

of

the

Authority,

and

any

amendments

thereto, provisionally adopted by the Council pursuant to

article 162, paragraph 2 (o)(ii). These rules, regulations and

procedures shall relate to prospecting, exploration and

exploitation in the Area, the financial management and

internal administration of the Authority, and, upon the

recommendation

of

the

Governing

Board

of

the

Enterprise, to the transfer of funds from the Enterprise to

the Authority;

(g) to decide upon the equitable sharing of financial and

other economic benefits derived from activities in the

Area, consistent with this Convention and the rules,

regulations and procedures of the Authority;

(h) to consider and approve the proposed annual budget

of the Authority submitted by the Council;

(i) to examine periodic reports from the Council and from

the Enterprise and special reports requested from the

Council or any other organ of the Authority;

(j) to initiate studies and make recommendations for the

purpose

of

promoting

international

cooperation

concerning activities in the Area and encouraging the

progressive development of international law relating

thereto and its codification;

(k)

to

consider

problems

of

a

general

nature

in

connection with activities in the Area arising in particular

for developing States, as well as those problems for States

in connection with activities in the Area that are due to

their geographical location, particularly for land-locked

and geographically disadvantaged States;

(l) to establish, upon the recommendation of the Council,

on the basis of advice from the Economic Planning

Commission,

a

system

of

compensation

or

other

measures of economic adjustment assistance as provided

in article 151, paragraph 10;

(m) to suspend the exercise of rights and privileges of

membership pursuant to article 185;

(n)

to

discuss

any

question

or

matter

within

the

competence of the Authority and to decide as to which

organ of the Authority shall deal with any such question

or matter not specifically entrusted to a particular organ,

consistent with the distribution of powers and functions

among the organs of the Authority.

SUBSECTION C. THE COUNCIL

Article 161. Composition, procedure and voting

1.

The

Council

shall

consist

of 36 members of the

Authority elected by the Assembly in the following order:

(a) four members from among those States Parties

which, during the last five years for which statistics are

available, have either consumed more than 2 per cent of

total world consumption or have had net imports of more

than 2 per cent of total world imports of the commodities

produced from the categories of minerals to be derived

from the Area, and in any case one State from the Eastern

European

(Socialist)

region,

as

well

as

the

largest

consumer;

(b) four members from among the eight States Parties

which have the largest investments in preparation for

and in the conduct of activities in the Area, either directly

or through their nationals, including at least one State

from the Eastern European (Socialist) region;

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