HC Deb 12 November 1958 vol 595 cc38-9W
70. Mr. Younger

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what proposals Her Majesty's Government have for reaching a settlement of the dispute with Iceland over fishing rights.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd

Her Majesty's Government consider that the questions of the breadth of territorial waters and fishery limits should be resolved at a second United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. They further consider that, pending the outcome of such a Conference, an interim arrangement regulating fishing around Iceland should be obtained either by negotiation or by referring the present dispute to the International Court of Justice. In the latter case the Court could be requested to indicate interim measures to be taken by the parties pending its final decision.

The Icelandic Government have not been willing to negotiate about the fishery limits introduced unilaterally on the 1st September; nor have they as yet agreed to accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice as I suggested at the United Nations General Assembly on 25th September.