On 8 February 2016, the United Nations Legal Counsel delivered welcoming remarks to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on the occasion of the opening of the plenary part of its fortieth session [link to speech]. The United Nations Legal Counsel addressed the conditions of service of the Commission, drawing the attention of the members of the Commission to relevant aspects of resolution 70/235 (“Oceans and the Law of the Sea”) recently adopted by the General Assembly. He also recalled that due the lack of nominations, the resumed twenty-fifth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, convened on 15 January 2016, could not hold the by-election to fill one vacancy which had occurred among the members of the Commission from the Eastern European Group. The by-election will therefore be included in the agenda of the twenty-sixth Meeting of States Parties in June 2016. The United Nations Legal Counsel closed his remarks reaffirming the support of the Secretariat to the Commission and wishing the Commission a successful fortieth session.