In Donald R. Rothwell, Evan T. Bloom, Suzanne Lalonde and Jeffrey McGee (eds), Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Polar Law. Edward Elgar, 2025, pp. 48-51
This chapter analyses the status of certain States party to the Antarctic Treaty as being ‘Consultative Parties’, which is among the key characteristics of the Treaty and the Antarctic Treaty System. Consultative Parties are those among the Treaty parties that have the decision-making role regarding the Antarctic Treaty. That role extends well beyond the Antarctic Treaty itself, into core features of the legal and political system governing the Antarctic region. A total of 29 of the existing 58 States party to the Antarctic Treaty are Consultative Parties. All the original 12 parties that signed the Antarctic Treaty retain Antarctic Treaty Consultative Party (ATCP) status unconditionally.
