DELAY IN PUBLISHING UN `REPERTORY' OF PRACTICE, SECURITY COUNCIL `REPERTOIRE' MUST BE ADDRESSED, SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON CHARTER TOLD
Press Release
L/2754
DELAY IN PUBLISHING UN `REPERTORY' OF PRACTICE, SECURITY COUNCIL `REPERTOIRE' MUST BE ADDRESSED, SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON CHARTER TOLD
19960227 Publications Called United Nations `Institutional Memory'Every effort should be made to overcome the Secretariat's budgetary and human resource problems and progressively reduce the backlog in publishing the United Nations Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council, the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization was told this afternoon.
Speaking as the Committee took up the question of the status of the two publications, the representative of Italy, speaking for the European Union, said that the last supplement to the Repertory, issued in 1986, covered the period 1970-1978. The last one to the Council's Repertoire, issued in 1992, covered 1981 to 1984. The Secretary-General's suggestions that would allow prompt resumption and effective work on publishing the repertories should be considered.
The Union, he added, viewed the two publications as essential for recording United Nations practice, providing a summary to Member States, the Secretariat, universities and scholars and contributing to the understanding of the United Nations Charter.
"This Organization is getting Alzheimer's unless we can update those two volumes", the representative of the United Kingdom said, supporting the view that the publications were useful in maintaining the United Nations institutional memory. The publications were also important for reasons of transparency and accountability.
The representatives of France, the Russian Federation and India also spoke.
Introducing a note from the Secretary-General on the status of the repertory and the repertoire, United Nations Legal Counsel Hans Corell said that the backlog had developed because it was hard to assign staff to a task that could be carried out only after more urgent tasks had been accomplished.
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The problem was compounded by increased workload, staff cuts and the Organization's financial crisis.
Even if some Secretariat units could prepare draft studies for the repertories, he said, the huge task of the Office of Legal Affairs in reviewing and coordinating their production could not be performed with existing resources. Before 1971, the Office had relied extensively on consultants for such tasks, but beginning in the 1970s the funds for consultants had been eliminated by the General Assembly, making such assistance unavailable.
Under General Assembly resolution 796 (VIII) adopted on 27 November 1953, the Secretary-General was requested to prepare, publish and circulate among Member States a Repertory of the practices of United Nations organs. Subsequently, a series of resolutions had requested him to continue to prepare supplements. The Repertory generally focuses on the presentation of decisions of United Nations organs and summarizes relevant views of delegations. It provides a summary of United Nations practice regarding the Articles of the Charter, emphasizing those in relation to which significant practice had developed in United Nations organs and throwing light on the interpretation or application of particular provisions.
The Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council, on the other hand, was designed to make materials in official records "more readily available" and to serve as a reference source for governments, delegations, the Secretariat, jurists, scholars and other users. The publication gives an analytical summary of the Council's proceedings and arranges the material by categories in texts, tables or in the form of "cases" organized according to the Council's provisional rules of procedure and by the Charter's Articles. The Repertoire's publication was authorized by Assembly resolution 686 (VII) of 5 December 1952.
The Special Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. Wednesday, 28 February.
Statements
MAURO POLITI (Italy), also speaking for the European Union, said that the Union saw the publication of the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and of the Repertoire of Practice of the Security Council as a very important matter. The documents were essential for recording United Nations practice and providing a summary to Member States, the Secretariat, universities and scholars. Further, they contributed to a better understanding of the Charter.
The last supplement to the Repertory, issued in 1986, covered the period 1970-1978. The last one to the Council's Repertoire, issued in 1992, covered 1981 to 1984. Every effort should be made to overcome the Secretariat's
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financial and human resource problems and progressively reduce the existing backlog. The Secretary-General's suggestions to allow prompt resumption and effective work on the publication of the repertories should be considered. While the difficulties on the Council's Repertoire seemed less complicated, the question raised in connection to updating the United Nations Repertory deserved careful consideration, with all options examined.
HUBERT LEGAL (France) said the statement by the Legal Counsel would greatly assist the Special Committee in its consideration of the Repertory and Repertoire. France was in complete agreement with the statement made by Italy on behalf of the European Union and insisted on the early publication of both documents. There existed a great deal of interest in those publications. Moreover, information in official documents was made more accessible by the Repertory, which was an indispensable working instrument. The Repertoire, on the other hand, made the Charter more accessible. The delay in both publications deprived Member States and the Secretariat of a tool which would help in dealing with current, day-to-day issues. In fact, the delay in publication had created a void, which ought to be remedied.
The study of the practice of the various organs of the United Nations was the best way of understanding the Charter, he said, adding that France was prepared to participate in in-depth discussions to facilitate the two publications. Furthermore, neither the publications nor the rules governing publication should be changed.
ELIZABETH WILMHURST (United Kingdom) said her country associated fully with the statement by Italy on behalf of the European Union. The continuation of publication of the Repertory and Repertoire was of fundamental importance for reasons of transparency, and preserving institutional memory. Any respectable organization should have an institutional memory and it was woeful that the United Nations was falling behind in preserving its own. "This organization is developing Alzheimer's unless we can update those two volumes", she said.
It was not that the Member States did not recognize the problems facing the Secretariat in publishing the volumes, she continued. "Indeed sometimes it seems that there is nothing but doom and gloom." However, the question was not a new one and had been considered in 1980 and 1981. The General Assembly, at that point, had asked the Secretary-General to give high priority to the publication of the Repertory and Repertoire. It was not for the Committee to prescribe what could be done. However, she wondered if it was possible to use more interns? Also, she asked if computerization would help in alleviating the problems. Could the Department of Public Information (DPI) be asked for help in printing and publishing the volumes? she asked.
HANS CORELL, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, said he wanted profound discussions on the backlog and on the status of the publications. He looked forward to informal discussion
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on how to deal with the problems he had raised. There should be coordination between what Member States wanted done and the availability of resources towards those ends.
VLADIMIR FEDOROV (Russian Federation) said the publications were extremely important to the entire world community. They would encourage transparency in the practices of United Nations organs and there was a clear need for them. The publications represented the institutional memory of the United Nations. The Organization was constantly developing and practice had been developed regarding some general provisions of the Charter. Some of the provisions had been embodied in additional agreements, which could be seen as supplements to the Charter in such areas as outer space and human rights. The publication could serve as a handbook on the practices of relevant United Nations organs.
He said that the Charter and the United Nations itself should be adapted to the changing circumstances in international relations and the new challenges to peace and security all over the world. The publications would enable the Organization to consolidate the decisions of the Security Council. That would enable Member States to analyze its more than 1,000 decisions. The decisions had a normative character, since they not only covered specific situations, but also demonstrated progress in the creation of certain guidelines or basic principles for resolving issues. That was an extremely important role. The repertories would make it possible to trace those guidelines.
He said there was a time, in 1946 and 1971, when it had been made clear that the abstention of a permanent Council member should not be construed as an impediment to a decision being taken by the Council. The presence of the repertories would show that such precedents obviated the need to have another look at the meaning of Article 27 of the Charter on the need for concurring affirmative votes by the permanent members for a decision to be taken.
S. RAMA RAO (India) said no further arguments were needed to establish the usefulness of the Repertory and Repertoire to the various delegations. In the light of the difficulties facing the Secretariat in the publication of the two documents, discussion could be held on how those problems might be alleviated. If the process of hiring interns proved feasible, India would not stand in the way, but it would like more information on the idea.
Note by Secretariat
A note from the Secretariat on the status of the United Nations Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council (document A/AC.182/L.87) states that the present arrangements for producing the Repertory suffer from two main defects. First, the entire operation is carried out with resources available only after more urgent tasks have been accomplished. Second, responsibility for
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preparing the initial studies that went into producing the document rests with a various units which the Office of Legal Affairs did not control. The task cannot be given priority over other urgent responsibilities and it is unlikely that the current backlog could be reduced. The only reliable way of getting a timely production of the Repertory is to allocate additional resources for the purpose.
The responsibility for preparing the Repertoire was entrusted to the Department of Political Affairs. Its initial volume, covering 1946 to 1951, was published in English and French in 1954. Since then, nine Supplements have been issued. Work on the tenth, on 1985 to 1988, was due to be completed in the first half of 1996. The preparation of studies for the Supplement 1989-1992 would start in the first quarter of 1996, with the completion of drafting projected for 1996-1997.
Despite the difficulties encountered, the institutional memory for the practice of the Security Council should be recorded in a manageable and accessible way, the notes says. To improve the Repertoire's production, it could be streamlined and advanced technology introduced. The publication of Supplements in parts might be considered, to provide Member States with long- overdue material. In order to expedite the availability of data, the next Supplement (No. 11), projected to cover a four-year period, might be split into two, covering the years 1989-1990 and 1991-1992.
Bringing the Repertoire up to date and keeping up with the Security Council's pace of work would be impossible without more human resources, states the note. Therefore, Member States might consider providing, at their expense, for six to 12 months, some junior professional officers and interns to take part in the work until the backlog was cleared. The Repertoire's format and contents could be improved to simplify its structure, reduce duplication and make it more user-friendly. Its utility can be enhanced by transferring it into electronic form and providing the information on diskettes.
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