Constitution of the Maritime Safety Committee of the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization
OVERVIEW OF THE CASE
The Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) (now the International Maritime Organization (IMO)) comprises, among other organs, an Assembly and a Maritime Safety Committee. Under the terms of Article 28 (a) of the Convention for the establishment of the organization, this Committee consists of 14 members elected by the Assembly from the members of the organization having an important interest in maritime safety, “of which not less than eight shall be the largest ship-owning nations”. When, on 15 January 1959, the IMCO Assembly, for the first time, proceeded to elect the members of the Committee, it elected neither Liberia nor Panama, although those two States were among the eight members of the organization which possessed the largest registered tonnage. Subsequently, the Assembly decided to ask the Court whether the Maritime Safety Committee had been constituted in accordance with the Convention for the establishment of the organization. In its Advisory Opinion of 8 June 1960, the Court replied to this question in the negative.
This overview is provided for information only and in no way involves the responsibility of the Court.