As part of the claim process, from August 10-13 the two countries had to defend their case  on legal, scientific and technical grounds before a United Nations subcommission in New York.

This sub-group of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will now consider the defence of the claim and make a recommendation on whether it should be accepted.

If the case is deemed in order, Seychelles and Mauritius will have joint jurisdiction in terms of international law over an area of some 400,000 square kilometres of seabed and subsoil stretching for some 900 nautical miles to the south-east of Coetivy, as described in the joint submission lodged with the UN in December 2008.

Recommendations made by the UN commission are final and binding on all states party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), and this would give the two countries sovereign rights to jointly manage and exploit the seabed and subsoil of the joint area in accordance with a framework agreement that is now being set up.

Since 2008, members of a technical team from Seychelles have been working with colleagues from Mauritius on a scientific project to build up the case for an extended continental shelf. In March 2009, the technical teams formally presented the joint submission to Unclos in New York.

A subcommission was then appointed to examine the joint claim in detail, and Seychelles and Mauritius faced the challenge of defending it and replying to questions raised by members.

The Seychelles delegation in New York to defend the case was headed by Raymond Chang-Tave, international boundaries special adviser to the Minister of Land Use and Housing, and had the following other members:

Selby Pillay, director-general, International Relations Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Fiona Robinson, director-general, Maritime Safety Administration legal, Ministry of Home Affairs, Environment and Transport; Patrick Joseph, geophysicist, exploration manager, Seychelles National Oil  Company; Patrick Samson, senior geologist, Seychelles National Oil Company; Francis Coeur de Lion, director, geographical information system, Ministry of Land Use and Housing.

The Mauritian delegation was headed by Dheerendra Dabee, solicitor general, and had the following other members:

Jagdish Koonjul, ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regional integration and international trade; Aruna Narain, assistant solicitor general, Attorney-General’s Office; Rezah Badal, principal research scientist, Mauritius Oceanography Institute; Dr Andre Chan Chim Yuk, associate professor, University of Mauritius and former  member of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

The two delegations were accompanied by Joshua Brien, a legal adviser from the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.