CLCS process flawed by its secretive nature that prevents thorough examination of claims

Despite UNCLOS's mandate that the CLCS examine a nation's claim to a physically connected continental shelf, problems arise with the Commission's structure. Sessions of the CLCS are secret."' The only nation that is privy to the CLCS deliberations is the one that submitted the scientific data purporting to support an extended continental shelf claim.²⁰ Because the CLCS "considers itself bound by States' requests to keep their submissions information confidential,"²¹ the executive summaries of the CLCS sessions do not contain any details.  Moreover, the CLCS process itself seems to be the only check on possible abuse by a nation making a fraudulent or erroneous extended continental shelf claim. Written interventions by nations that are not opposite from or adjacent to a submitting state are not allowed.