1.　The Assembly shall consist of all the members of the Authority. Each member shall have one representative in the Assembly, who may be accompanied by alternates and advisers.

2.　The Assembly shall meet in regular annual sessions and in such special sessions as may be decided by the Assembly, or convened by the Secretary-General at the request of the Council or of a majority of the members of the Authority.

3.　Sessions shall take place at the seat of the Authority unless otherwise decided by the Assembly.

4.　The Assembly shall adopt its rules of procedure. At the beginning of each regular session, it shall elect its President and such other officers as may be required. They shall hold office until a new President and other officers are elected at the next regular session.

5.　A majority of the members of the Assembly shall constitute a quorum.

6.　Each member of the Assembly shall have one vote.

7.　Decisions on questions of procedure, including decisions to convene special sessions of the Assembly, shall be taken by a majority of the members present and voting.

8.　Decisions on questions of substance shall be taken by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, provided that such a majority includes a majority of the members participating in the session. When the issue arises as to whether a question is one of substance or not, that question shall be treated as one of substance unless otherwise decided by the Assembly by the majority required for decisions on questions of substance.

9.　When a question of substance comes up for voting for the first time, the President may, and shall, if requested by at least one fifth of the members of the Assembly, defer the issue of taking a vote on that question for a period not exceeding five calendar days. This rule may be applied only once to any question, and shall not be applied so as to defer the question beyond the end of the session.

10.　Upon a written request addressed to the President and sponsored by at least one fourth of the members of the Authority for an advisory opinion on the conformity with the Convention of a proposal before the Assembly on any matter, the Assembly shall request the Sea-Bed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to give an advisory opinion thereon and shall defer voting on that proposal pending receipt of the advisory opinion by the Chamber. If the advisory opinion is not received before the final week of the session in which it is requested, the Assembly shall decide when it will meet to vote upon the deferred proposal.

1.　The Assembly, as the sole organ of the Authority consisting of all the members, shall be considered the supreme organ of the Authority to which the other principal organs shall be accountable as specifically provided for in this Convention. The Assembly shall have the power to establish general policies in conformity with the relevant provisions of the Convention on any question or matter within the competence of the Authority.

2.　In addition, the powers and functions of the Assembly shall be:

(a)　to elect the members of the Council in accordance with article 160;

(b)　to elect the Secretary-General from among the candidates proposed by the Council;

(c)　to elect, upon the recommendation of the Council, half of the members of the Governing Board of each Enterprise; The same Board Members may serve on the Boards of several Enterprises.

(d)　to establish such subsidiary organs as it finds necessary for the exercise of its functions in accordance with this Part. In the composition of these subsidiary organs due account shall be taken of the principle of equitable geographical distribution;

(e)　to adopt the financial rules, regulations and procedures submitted by the Council;

(f)　to assess the contribution of members to the administrative budget of the Authority in accordance with an agreed scale of assessment based upon the scale used for the regular budget of the United Nations until the Authority shall have sufficient income from other sources to meet its administrative expenses;

(g)　to determine the limits of the borrowing power of the Authority;

(h)　to decide upon the equitable sharing of financial and other economic benefits derived from the activities in the Area, consistent with this Convention and the rules, regulations and procedures of the Authority;

(i)　to consider and approve the proposed annual budget of the Authority submitted by the Council;

(j)　to examine periodic reports from the Council and from the Enterprise system and special reports requested from the Council or any other organ of he Authority;

(k)　to initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of promoting international co-operation concerning activities in the Area and related activities in relation to the deep sea-bed and encouraging the progressive development of international law relating thereto and its codification;

(l)　to consider problems of a general nature in connection with activities in the area and related activities arising in particular for developing States, particularly for land-based producers, land-locked and geographically disadvantaged and small island developing States as well as the least developed States, and to formulate recommendations thereon;

(m)　to suspend the exercise of rights and privileged of membership pursuant to article 185;

(n)　to discuss any question or matter within the competence of the Authority and to decide as to which organ of the Authority shall deal with any such question or matter not specifically entrusted to a particular organ, consistent with the distribution of powers and functions among the organs of the Authority.