CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

MARTINA FILIPPIOVÁ

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ

ANTARCTICA AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC: HOSTING THE XLII ANTARCTIC TREATY CONSULTATIVE MEETING (ATCM) Martina Filippiová

The Czech Republic has hosted this July its first Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and a meeting of the Committee on Environmental Protection (CEP). ATCM is a supreme collective decision-making body of Contracting Parties to the Antarctic Treaty where only those States whose consultative status has been recognized decide on the future of Antarctica. One may question what such a small land-lock State in the Northern Hemisphere has to do with the Earth’s southernmost continent. A lot, let me briefly guide you. In January, it has been 90 years since the first Czech, Mr. Václav Vojtěch, entered the territory of Antarctica. He was part of a Richard Evelyn Byrd expedition and travelled to Antarctica on a ship Eleanor Bolling. Mr. Vojtěch later received a Golden Medal of the U.S. Congress for this achievement. Since then, Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic, has noted an increased interest of Czech scientists in Antarctica. Legally speaking, it all started with the International Geophysical Year (IGY) which encompassed series of scientific activities between 1957 and 1958. Scientists from all over the world participated in observations of global geophysical phenomena. Special attention was paid to Antarctica where scientists had already carried out research on meteorology, seismology and glaciology. Back then already few States made territorial claims in Antarctica. Driven by the idea of freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation to that end which is in the interest of science and progress of all mankind, twelve States, that participated in IGY and whose scientists were active in and around Antarctica during that period, started to draft a text of the later known Antarctic Treaty. Hence, after many deliberations on 1 December 1959 the Antarctic Treaty was concluded. Its primary objective is use of Antarctica only for peaceful purposes. Measures of military nature are prohibited by the Treaty and territorial claims have been “frozen” for the duration of the Treaty. Freedom of scientific investigation and cooperation remains at the centre of the Treaty’s objective. It further stipulates that exchange of information on scientific plans, as well as exchange of results of scientific observations in Antarctica and exchange of scientific personnel are tools how to achieve this objective. The compliance with the provisions of the Treaty is ensured by the observers who carry out inspections in Antarctica. Apart from twelve original signatories, the Treaty has other 42 States Parties that subsequently acceded to this document. The last one was Slovenia in April this year, bringing the number of its Parties to 54. It is not well known that Czechoslovakia was after Poland one of the first States that acceded to the Antarctic Treaty. Its document of accession was deposited with the United States of America, which is depositary of the Treaty, in June 1962. Thus apart from long historical presence in Antarctica, the Czech Republic, as a successor of Czechoslovakia, has a long legal tradition in relation to the white continent.

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