Volume 43 | Number 1 Fall 2007
From the “Constitution of the Maritime Safety Committee” to the “Constitution of the Council”: Will the IMCO Experience Repeat Itself at the IMO Nearly Fifty Years On? The Juridical Politics of an International Organization
VI. Conclusion
The Organization’s Convention has been revised on so many occasions that it is a completely different instrument than was adopted in Geneva in 1948.368 The changes reflect the ways in which shipping, and the shipping industry, have evolved, as well as the political emancipation and economic developments that have taken place—both within and outside the Organization since its foundation fifty years ago.369 The original 1948 IMCO Convention was created to accommodate a shipping industry dominated by a small number of TMNs that had been unchallenged for centuries.370 Today, although significant changes have taken place, these countries have not released their grip on the industry or the U.N. organization that regulates it.
Their perspective is not surprising given that these countries initially opposed the creation of any international organization to regulate shipping.371 They argued, on behalf of their shipping industry, that shipping was best left to self-regulation.372 Even though they have accommodated expansion of the Organization, they have sought to maintain political and economic control.373
Without amending the Convention several times over the years, the Organization would not likely have been able to respond to the changes that have occurred in the last half-century.374 One measure of this evolution’s success is the fact that the membership of the Organization now stands at 167, a dramatic increase since 1959, when it had only 21 members.375 The member countries control more than 96% of the world’s merchant marine tonnage through their domestic registries and beneficial ownership of tonnage, in their dependencies, and other predominantly open registries.376 But the Organization must still deal with the problem of democratization and access for countries outside the TMNs. Moreover, because of the new equations for calculating each county’s contribution to the Organization, the DMNs that operate flags of convenience have found themselves footing the main financial burdens of the Organization without a commensurate voice at the decision making table.
Whereas the reformers would probably wish to avoid a repeat of the 1960 experience, there is strong sympathy for the view that where an entire region is excluded from Council Membership, all nations have cause for concern and serious reflection, and that having seen the election results for Membership to the Council for the 2006–2007 biennium, the intention of the amendments, most notably Article 17, has not been achieved. Accordingly, there is a need to ensure the international character of IMO activities and the much-discussed “representation on the Council from all parts of the world.”377
Thus, it is incumbent upon the Organization to enumerate specific guidelines vis-à-vis qualifications for each category of Membership on the Council to ensure the correct interpretation and implementation of Article 17 during future elections. The current situation appears to be very fluid and somewhat open-ended. Perhaps some last minute solution may yet be conjured up at the 99th Session of the Council and 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly, but it is too early to tell. It is hoped that common sense will prevail and some compromise will be brokered.
Failing such a compromise, this author hopes that all parties, including the ICJ, might find this article of some use. A return to the ICJ will produce neither winners nor losers and thus will not create a satisfactory solution to the Organization’s problems, or good publicity. But it probably is the most realistic option currently available barring last-minute compromises. Developments at the Organization during the next couple of years will therefore be very crucial.
If you would like to submit a response to this article, please read our submission guidelines and submit your response here.
Footnotes
For complete footnote citations, download the PDF.