As the development of economic and technology, the international society has concentrated on the huge mineral resources in the Area. According to United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Area and its resources are the common heritage of mankind. And the International Sea-bed Authority exercises the right on the Area on behalf of mankind. The private entity shall be sponsored by the State Party of the UNCLOS to take activities in the Area.
The sponsoring State responsibilities consist of obligations and liabilities. The relevant provisions on the sponsoring State responsibilities are very unclear. The Seabed Dispute Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea issued an Advisory Opinion on 1 February 2011 to interpret the unclear problems in the UNCLOS. The sponsoring State obligations include direct obligations and the obligation of "due diligence" to ensure that the contractor who made contract with the Authority fulfills its obligation. And the sponsoring State liability depends on the performance of obligation under the UNCLOS of sponsoring State. But the rules are still unclear to apply in the practice. Before the exploiting stage, there is need for further negotiation over issues relevant to the range and liabilities that sponsoring state responsibilities should cover. At the exploiting state, the sponsoring state still mainly resolves to ensure that the contractor should fulfill its obligations, which are different from the state liability of wrongful acts in international law.
This dissertation attempts to clarify the sponsoring State obligations and sponsoring State liabilities under the UNCLOS with the relevant documents, such as the Advisory Opinion and the Regulations made by the Authority. The main problem of the sponsoring State obligations is the obligation of "due diligence" to ensure the performance of obligation of the sponsored contractor. The analysis of the "responsibility to ensure" is very important to understand the obligations of sponsoring State. And the sponsoring State liabilities need more research for the uncertainty of the relevant rules. Therefore, this dissertation will introduce and interpret the relevant rules of the sponsoring State obligations and liabilities.
The current provisions of sponsoring State liability cannot full compensate for the damage caused by activities in the Area. There will be a liability gap if the contractor cannot fully repair the damage. Therefore, the way to fill the gap is very important for protecting the environment and the victims. This dissertation will make some suggestions to fill the liability gap by applying the treaties and international customary law. And the Environmental Liability Trust Fund will be introduced.
Considering future development of the Area regime, above mentioned issues must be discussed and clarified. Suggestions about the feasible ways leading to fill the liability gap are also given in this paper.