The direct impetus for international cooperation on creating international legislation to regulate the legal status of sea and ocean bottoms lying outside of national jurisdiction was the presentation made at the First UN Committee by the Maltese Ambassador, A. Pardo. In 1967, he called for the establishment of new legal measures for these regions and for them to be recognized as ucommon human heritage. On December 17, 1970, the General Assembly of the UN voted in favor (108 ayes and 14 abstentions) of the declaration of principles regarding sea and ocean bottoms and undergrounds that are outside of national jurisdiction. On December 10, 1982, the UN Convention, which restrictively regulates the exploration and exploitation of deep-sea bottoms, was ratified with a majority of votes from developing nations. On July 28, 1994, the General Assemble of the UN voted in favor of a resolution regarding agreement for the implementation of part XI of the UN Convention on marine law of December 10, 1982 (known as the New York Accord).

This article may provoke interest in Poland's activity in connection with the potential extraction o f natural wealth from the sea bed. The international concern Interoceanmetal Joint Organization (IOM) was set up in Szczecin in 1987. Poland has been a member from the very beginning of IOM. To this day Poland is involved in conducting exploration of a specific sector. The sector is in the area of Clarion-Clipperton in the Pacific, and it has a surface area of 52,300 km2. Registration as a pioneer investor made research, rather than exploitation, possible (1991). The exploration of the submarine area allocated to Poland became possible in 2000.

The UN Convention on the Law of the sea (1982) establishes that the bottom (and what lies beneath it) of seas and oceans which are outside the state jurisdiction known as territorial waters, and its resources belong to all humanity. The Convention distinguishes three consecutive phases o f activities that are focused on resources that lie within coastal territorial waters: a. search; b. exploration; c. exploitation. Access to reserved lots is restricted. Developing states were granted 15 years precedence over other investors. A company was granted 15 years to decide if it wished to start activities on that lot. The contracting party is also obliged to offer a company participation in the activities on reserved lots as partners in a joint venture. This is connected with the sharing among partners of extraction rights (rights to minerals extractedfrom territorial waters). Cooperation within the framework of a joint venture with an investor, professionally prepared to conduct activities in territorial water, especially well allows a business to use the partner’s knowledge, technology and experience in deep-sea mining. The author considers that developed states will dominate in the beginning phase offuture exploration and exploitation of coastal territorial waters.

The article discusses issues relating to outer limit of continental shelf within the meaning of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982) and investigates the role of the Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf (CLCS). The CLCS is a scientific and technical body with advisory duties. The author examines, as an example of difficulties arising in delimitation of continental shelf, the territorial dispute surrounding the Lomonosov Ridge.

The subject matter of this article has never been taken on by Polish academic writers.

The activities within The Area adapt to the so-dolled parallel system, which has been devised by the United States during drafting the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1994 New York Agreement. The parallel system is further reinforced by concepts of registered marine parcels and work plan.

The article analyses the approval process of a work plan for offshore polymetallic nodules mining submitted by companies incorporated in the Kingdom of Tonga and in the Municipality of Laur. The author notes, on this occasion, an unsettling propensity for taking unfair advantage of developing countries by large mining corporations.