the importance of natural resources for the contemporary world. Post-war dependence on foreign raw materials was expressed in the Atlantic Charter of 1941 by the United States of America and the United Kingdom, which raised the issue of access on an equal basis to world trade and raw materials necessary for their economic development.15 Also the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development16 and the International Monetary Fund,17 established at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, indicated in their founding files the need to develop the production of resources of all members. In 1947, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization organized an International Wood Conference to consider wood availability for the reconstruction of countries destroyed during the war.18 In 1949, the Economic and Social Council organized an academic conference on the protection and use of natural resources, the scope and goals of which were defined by the President of the United States, Harry Truman.19 The agenda included six main topics: land, water, forests, wild animals and fish, fuels, energy and minerals. The most urgent problem was the exhaustibility of basic raw materials in the world in confrontation with the needs of an ever-growing population. During the same period, interest in natural resources of the seabed and fisheries on the high seas intensified. By President Truman’s proclamation of 28 September 1945, the United States announced that the continental shelf adjacent to their land territory belongs to the United States, subject to their jurisdiction and rulership.20 The justification argued that the exploitation of subsea deposits should be encouraged in view of the global need to access new oil and other mineral resources. Reasonable use of them will be possible if the given entity has the competence to decide on the manner of their exploitation. Furthermore, such competence is best granted to a coastal state, since the continental shelf is a geological extension of the land territory of a coastal state. In 1952, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru in the so-called Santiago Declaration on the maritime zone proclaimed the maintenance and protection of natural resources in their naval zones adjacent to their shores21.
The 1950s were also a period of the colonized states’ demands for independent control over natural resources within their territories. On the one hand, permanent sovereignty over natural resources was part of a movement aimed at strengthening the political and economic sovereignty of newly independent states, especially in Latin America. It can be seen as a derivative of the principle of national sovereignty established at that time, which includes economic jurisdiction over natural resources as well as domestic and foreign economic activity in the state. On the other hand, sovereignty over natural resources has become an inseparable element of the struggle of colonial peoples and non-governing territories for political independence based on a much younger principle of self-determination. In this way, sovereignty over natural resources has become an integral part of the decolonization movement, because it was widely believed that achieving political self-determination would be only apparent unless economic self-determination were carried out simultaneously.22 The UN General Assembly Resolution 523 (VI) of 12 January 1952 on integrated economic development and commercial agreements,23 adopted on that date, recognizes that underdeveloped countries have the right to freely shape their natural resources, and they should do so in a way that would ensure their better position in further implementation of their economic development plans, in accordance with their national interests, as well as in line with continuing development of the global economy. The Resolution also indicates that commercial agreements should not contain economic or political conditions that violate the sovereign rights of underdeveloped countries, including the right to define their own plans for economic development.24 Following the Iranian nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1952, Uruguay submitted a motion for a resolution that recommended that countries should recognize the right of each country to nationalize and freely use its natural resources as an important factor in independence. In the same year, UN General Assembly Resolution No. 626 (VII)25 stated that the right of nations to freely use and exploit their natural resources and health is within their sovereignty.26
The General Assembly Resolution No. 1314 (XIII) of 195827 established a Committee for permanent sovereignty over natural resources, whose task was to conduct a full study of the state of permanent sovereignty over natural resources as a fundamental component of the right to self-determination, with a recommendation for its possible strengthening. In addition, it was decided to pay due attention to the rights and obligations of states arising from international law, as well as the importance of supporting international cooperation for the economic development of developing countries. As a result of the Committee’s activities, Resolution No. 1803 (XVII) was adopted regarding permanent sovereignty over natural resources,28 in which the concept of permanent sovereignty over natural resources was reiterated and it was stated that the right of peoples and nations to permanent sovereignty over natural resources should be exercised in the interest of their national development and in the interest of the well-being of the people in a given state (Article 1). According to Article 2, the search, development, and disposal of natural resources, as well as the acquisition of foreign capital for these purposes, should be consistent with the principles and conditions that peoples and nations are free to consider necessary or desirable with regard to granting, restricting, or prohibiting such activities. The next two articles contain regulations regarding the treatment of foreign investors. According to Article 3, the profits derived from investments must be shared between the investor and the host country in accordance with the freely agreed profit sharing ratio. Moreover, nationalization, expropriation, or requisition should be based on considerations of public utility, security and national interests, while disputes should be resolved by agreement of the parties, in arbitration or by international courts (Article 4). The Resolution refers in its content to the importance of sovereign equality of states (Article 5) and stipulates that international cooperation and development must be directed towards supporting the independent development of developing countries and based on respect for their sovereignty in terms of their wealth and natural resources (Article 6). Article 7 emphasizes that the violation of the rights of peoples and nations to sovereignty over their wealth and natural resources is contrary to the spirit and principles of the United Nations Charter and hinders the development of international cooperation for the maintenance of peace. Article 8 combines investment regulations with the question of sovereignty over natural resources and stipulates that investment agreements concluded with a foreign entity should be respected in good faith and that states and international organizations should respect the sovereignty of peoples and nations over natural resources, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the rules set out in this Resolution.
Although the Resolution is declaratory and expresses the then legal status in the area in question, it also contains quasi-legal elements, which are: granting the attribute of sovereignty over natural resources both to the state for its own development and people for their well-being (Article 1); legal international approval for taking over other people’s property (Article 4 sentence 1); and giving priority to domestic dispute resolution measures (Article 4 sentence 2). The resolution also shows programme features by introducing guidelines on the distribution of profits in arbitrarily set ratios (Article 3) and indicating support for independent development of developing countries, based on respect for their sovereignty in terms of their wealth and
