Special Committee on Charter Adopts Annual Report, Concludes 2015 Session

Concluding its annual session today, the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening the Role of the Organization adopted its 2015 draft report and forwarded its recommendations to the General Assembly.

Presenting the draft report, Rapporteur Sebastian Rogac (Croatia), in keeping with the Special Committee’s tradition, led delegations through a paragraph-by-paragraph reading of its contents.

The five-chapter report (document A/AC.182/2015/L.1 to 10) begins with an introduction covering the work of the body’s session, which began at Headquarters on 17 February.  Adopted as orally amended, the report highlights proposals submitted by delegations pertaining to the items on the Special Committee’s agenda:  maintenance of international peace and security; peaceful settlement of disputes; Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council; working methods and identification of new subjects.

The Repertory is a legal publication which analyses the decisions of United Nations principal organs under each of the Articles of the United Nations Charter.  The Repertoire is a constitutional and procedural guide to the proceedings of the Security Council since 1946.

Included in chapter II are summaries of discussions on the implementation of the Charter provisions related to assistance to third States affected by sanctions; Libya’s revised proposal on strengthening the United Nations role in the maintenance of international peace and security; and Venezuela’s revised working paper entitled “Open-ended working group to study the proper implementation of the Charter of the United Nations with respect to the functional relationship of its organs”.

A revised working paper submitted by Belarus and the Russian Federation concerning a request from the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of States’ use of force without prior Council authorization was also included, as was a working paper by Cuba on strengthening the role of the Organization and enhancing its effectiveness.  The report also incorporates the Special Committee’s consideration of the question of appropriate commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations.

Chapter III comprises a summary of discussion by the Special Committee on the proposal submitted by the Russian Federation on updating the Handbook on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes between States and establishing a website related thereto; and on the proposal submitted at the current session of the Special Committee by Iran, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, on pacific settlement of disputes and its impact on the maintenance of peace.

By a set of approved draft recommendations, to be included in chapter IV of the report, the Special Committee would have the Assembly reiterate the Secretary-General’s responsibility for the quality of the Repertory and the Repertoire.  The Assembly would reiterate its call for voluntary contributions to the trust funds for, respectively, eliminating the backlog in the Repertory and for updating the Repertoire, as well as the voluntary sponsoring of associate experts to assist in the updating of those publications with no cost to the United Nations.

Chapter V contains a summary of discussion on the working paper submitted by Ghana on strengthening the relationship and cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations or arrangements in the peaceful settlement of disputes.

The Special Committee was established in 1975 to examine proposals to bolster the world body’s role in maintaining peace and security, to advance cooperation among nations and to promote international law.

The Special Committee will reconvene at a date and time to be announced.