§ 62. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the deliberations in May, 1956, of the International Law Commission at Geneva on the traditional conception of the freedom of the seas; on the right to fish them; on the proposals relating to compulsory arbitration in international fisheries disputes; on the views expressed and action taken there by the British Government representative on that Commission; and on the decisions arrived at by that Commission.
§ Lord John HopeAs I pointed out in reply to a Question by the hon. and learned Member on 18th June, there is no British Government representative on the International Law Commission. Members of the Commission are elected by the General Assembly of the United Nations, and sit in an individual capacity.
The deliberations of the Commission have not yet ended, but in due course the results will be published by the Commission in the form of a series of draft articles on the régime of territorial and 7W high seas. It is hoped that these draft articles will be considered by the General Assembly in November.
The views of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom on the matters referred to in the hon. and learned Member's Question are contained in the documents referred to in my answer of 18th June and in a further document which I have placed in the Library.