Legal issues

The “constitution of the oceans” celebrates its 30th anniversary today, and remains one of the greatest contributions to international law. It is of the highest importance to coastal states. Norway has claimed control of its oil and gas resources at sea based on the Convention. Read more

Seven African coastal states are receiving assistance from Norway to establish new limits to their continental shelves. This will help these countries to gain jurisdiction over their own oil and gas resources. Read more

Norway supports the proposed levy on currency transactions. This will raise several billion dollars for additional funding for global public goods, such as measures to address climate change and to promote health, education and the UN Millennium Development Goals. Read more

Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim signed an agreement with six countries in Africa that will help them to gain jurisdiction over their own oil and gas resources.Norway and Cape Verde hosted the signing event in New York on Tuesday 21 September. Read more

The Review Conference for the UN Fish Stocks Agreement was held at the UN in New York on May 24-28. The meeting was a continuation of the conference from 2006, and the main objective was to evaluate the implementation of the Agreement and to look for possible ways to strengthen the implementation and have more States become parties to the Agreement. Read more

The States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are gathering in Kampala, Uganda, to take stock of the progress of the Court. “This is a milestone in the history of international criminal law,” commented Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Read more

Norway established diplomatic relations with the Pacific island-state Tuvalu on Friday May 7th. The Norwegian UN Ambassador, Morten Wetland, and his Tuvaluan counterpart, Afelee Falema Pita, signed a joint communiqué at the Norwegian UN delegation in New York. Read more

Today agreement has been reached between the Norwegian and the Russian negotiating delegations on the bilateral maritime delimitation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean, said Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Read more

Norway held a presentation for The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) on Friday 9 April about its documentation of the extended continental shelf off Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. The associated documentation was submitted to the Commission last May. Read more

Norway was part of the large majority in the General Assembly on 28 October that approved the resolution that encourages the United States to lift its trade embargo on Cuba. It’s the 18th year in a row that this has happened. There is now a growing expectation from the international community that the Obama administration will adjust its Cuba-policy. Read more