Study On The Liability System Of Sponsoring State In The Exploitation Of "Area"

The Liability of Sponsoring State system is a system stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,which is applicable to resource exploration and exploitation activities in the international seabed area.The development of "Area" mineral resources has a high risk.If an accident occurs during the development process,it is easy to cause immeasurable damage.The establishment of the Liability of Sponsoring State system is precisely to ensure the safety of the development of "Area" mineral resources and avoid development accidents.Since the sponsoring state’s breach of the guaranty obligation is not an internationally wrongful act or an act of injury,the sponsoring state’s liability should be distinguished from international legal liability.In the issue of the liability of the sponsoring state,the contractor is an individual or entity,not a government or government agency.The contractor’s behavior is an individual behavior,so the state cannot be required to assume responsibility for its behavior.Because of these characteristics of the liability of the sponsoring state,the reasonable duty of care theory should be applied when analyzing the liability principle.In order to clarify the relationship between the liability of the sponsoring state and the liability of the contractor,it is necessary to distinguish the "liability of the sponsoring state" from the "liability of guarantor" in civil law.As the guarantor’s liability is caused by the guarantor’s violation of the guaranty obligation,the sponsoring state’s liability and the contractor’s liability are parallel,and there is no joint liability or supplementary liability.The constitutive elements of the liability of the sponsoring state are contained in the legal articles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.The act of the sponsoring state,the damage consequence and the causal relationship between the two are the three constitutive elements of the liability of the sponsoring state.On the issue of "double punishment" of the guarantor country,in order to ensure that the administration and the sponsoring state make effective supervision and management over the contractor,the contractor can be punished jointly by exercising the power of punishment in proportion according to the performance of the administration and the sponsoring state in the development of the "Area".The developed international and developing countries should establish a unified compensation standard.On the issue of establishing a unified compensation standard,the Authority should give full play to its unified supervision and management function and formulate a standard acceptable to all countries.The way of performing sponsoring state’s liability can refer to the way of performing international liability for compensation and define the scope of sponsoring state’s liability by clarifying the meaning of "actual damage".Solving the problems related to the liability of sponsoring state system in the development of the "Area" will help the activities in the "Area" enter the development stage more quickly,and will be more conducive to protecting the common heritage of mankind.While studying the issues related to the responsibility system of the guarantor country in the development of the "Area",this article also provides ideas for our country to participate in the development of the international seabed area and reasonably fulfill the obligations of the sponsoring state.