The 13th meeting of State Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea met from 9-13 June 2003 at UN Headquarters in New York to discuss the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and its budget.

At the onset of the meeting, Stanislaw Pawlak of Poland was elected as meeting president, succeeding Don McKay of New Zealand. Parties adopted the 2004 budget for the Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in the amount of $8,039,000, together with the staffing table for the Registry containing 16 Professional and 21 General Service posts. The new budget represents a significant reduction in comparison to the proposed amount of $8,614,900, which had been presented at the opening of the session. A total of six draft decisions were adopted on various budgetary and administrative questions, including death and disability benefits for judges of the Tribunal, the court’s expenses in 2004 and its staff assessment fund. Delegates also discussed the application of article 319 of the Convention, pursuant to which the Meetings of States Parties are convened, and heard a statement by the Director of the Centre for Seafarers’ Rights, who requested the Meeting to place on its agenda a thorough review of the Convention’s protections for persons employed at sea, and review how States implemented them. More information can be found at the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea at: http://www.un.org/Depts/los/meeting_states_parties/meeting_states_parties.htm