SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON CHARTER CONCLUDES SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS, 21 FEBRUARY - 6 MARCH

6 March 1996

Press Release
L/2759

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON CHARTER CONCLUDES SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS, 21 FEBRUARY - 6 MARCH

19960306 Report Contains Recommendations on Aid to Third States Affected by Sanctions

The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization this morning concluded its two- week session after approving its report to the General Assembly, which contains recommendations on the Charter provisions on assistance to third States affected by sanctions and on the current status of the repertories of United Nations practice.

By the terms of its recommendation on sanctions, the Committee invited the General Assembly's fifty-first session to consider the question of an appropriate organizational framework for addressing further the implementation of the provisions of the Charter on helping third States affected by sanctions imposed under Chapter VII of the Charter.

The other recommendation, among other things, invited the Assembly to request the Secretary-General to expedite the preparation and publication of supplements to the United Nations Repertory of Practice of the United Nations Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council and then submit a progress report on the matter before its fifty-second session.

Also this morning, the Committee approved including in its report working papers on those issues and the maintenance of international peace and security, the peaceful settlement of disputes between States, the future of the Trusteeship Council and new subjects to be included in the Committee's future work.

The Special Committee is mandated to examine issues relating to the maintenance of international peace and security, the peaceful settlement of disputes and the strengthening of the Role of the Organization.

Report of Special Committee

The Special Committee's report contains both its recommendations and summaries of the discussions that took place in the Committee on the issues.

On the question of assistance to third States affected by sanctions, the Committee invited the fifty-first Assembly to consider the issue of an appropriate organizational framework for addressing further the implementation of the Charter provisions on such help and the implementation of provisions of Assembly resolution 50/51, taking into account the Secretary-General's report and views expressed in the Committee.

Regarding the repertories, the Committee recalled that in Assembly resolution 50/52 of 11 December 1995, it had been requested to consider the current status of the repertories. Also, it noted that Assembly resolutions 35/164 of 15 December 1980 and 36/123 of 11 December 1981 had requested the Secretary-General to give high priority to preparing and publishing the supplements to make the publications up to date as quickly as possible. Then, noting the value of the publications to Member States, institutions and interested individuals, it invited the Assembly to request the Secretary- General to expedite the preparation and publication of the supplements.

The question of maintaining international peace and security and alleviating the unintended impact of sanctions on third States affected by United Nations sanctions imposed under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter was discussed by the Committee. During the discussion, the important role of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Committee for Programme and Coordination were highlighted. Also, it was suggested that the costs of the international community's collective actions be shared equitably by all Member States and a permanent mechanism be established to allow third States a source of remedies to their problems. Such a mechanism should have an adequately resourced financial component and it should automatically apply when needed.

The transparency in the Security Council's sanctions committees' procedures and the flow of information to third States should be improved, said some Committee members. In doing so, sanctions regimes' effectiveness should be preserved and the exercise of the Council's Chapter VII powers not prejudiced. The view was expressed that the notion of a right to compensation for third States affected by sanctions, which could be seen as a condition for applying Chapter VII measures, was inappropriate. The establishment of a new permanent mechanism, such as a trust fund, would not be a viable solution to third States' problems.

Some representatives sanctions should not be used as the primary means of settling disputes. Also, a mechanism should be established to assess impartially whether a State had complied with the demands of sanctions regimes

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and fulfilled the requirements for lifting them. The opinion of such a body would not be binding on the Council.

Committee members said the working paper on the implementation of provisions of the United Nations Charter, including Article 50 on assistance to third States hurt by sanctions, submitted by the Russian Federation deserved further consideration. The paper states that the "threshold" for applying sanctions against those who obstinately ignore United Nations demands should be high and precise criteria should be taken into account. The criteria could include a real threat to peace and security and the exhaustion of all other means. It adds that sanctions must be a part of a long-term search for a political settlement of the conflict, reflect the international community's strategic objectives and not those of only a few members, plus take into account the political and physical price of such actions. The sanctions should not have the unspoken aim of damaging third States, as that would undermine the very idea of the sanctions.

During discussion it was proposed that third States should be provided with resources, including direct economic assistance to mitigate the impact of sanctions. In addition, the role of financial institutions should be enhanced and appropriate use made of the multi- or bilateral development schemes to help third States. Alternative, non-financial measures of help could be considered. Further, it was suggested that special trade preferences to affected countries should be introduced temporarily, a share of the future reconstruction and development projects should be allocated to affected third States and private foreign investments should be promoted in affected countries.

Regarding the Security Council, Committee members stated that a review of the veto power in that organ was called for and its membership should be expanded to accommodate new members, reflecting demographic, political and economic realities.

A revised proposal from the Libyan delegation on strengthening the role of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security was also considered by the Committee. It called on the Committee to consider means of strengthening the General Assembly's role in realizing international cooperation in maintaining peace and security, enhancing the relationship between the Assembly and the Security Council and developing criteria to make the Council's composition reflect equitable geographical distribution. Also, the negative effects of the necessity of unanimity among the Council's permanent members and measures to repeal it should be considered.

The Committee also discussed a revised working paper from Cuba, originally presented at the 1995 session of the Committee, on, among other things, the strengthening of the role of Organization and enhancing its effectiveness. The representative of Cuba said it would present at a later

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session a newly revised version that would take into account views arising from the negotiations in, for instance, the General Assembly working groups on the equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Council. The strengthening of the Organization's role in promoting peace, security and economic and social development should be based on equal participation of all Member States, big or small, said Cuba's representative.

On the Trusteeship Council's future, the view was expressed that it should be disbanded, as it had fulfilled its mandate. Member States should disband structures whose raison d'etre had ceased to exist. On the other hand, committee members argued that there was no urgent need to abolish the Council as it employed no staff, held no regular meetings and did not use up the Organization's resources. Furthermore, the possibility that its services might be needed in the future could not be ruled out and the idea of making the Council the guardian of global resources and concerns of mankind should be considered.

Turning to the question of peaceful settlement of disputes between States, the Committee considered Sierra Leone's proposal on establishing a dispute settlement service offering or responding with its services early in disputes. In its discussion of the proposal, Committee members stated that the proposed service or a variation would provide the United Nations an appropriate mechanism through which parties could settle their disputes. However, concern was also expressed that the offer of services to the parties might label a situation as a potential or actual dispute, making parties more adversarial and complicating matters. Thus, such a formal framework might make dispute settlement less flexible, prompting parties to shy away from addressing their disputes.

In its consideration of the United Nations repertories of practice, Committee members said that every effort should be made to overcome the Secretariat's budgetary and human resources problems and progressively reduce the backlog in publishing the United Nations Repertory of Practice of the United Nations Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council. "This Organization is getting Alzheimer's unless we can update those two volumes", the representative of the United Kingdom said. The volumes would help preserve institutional memory, transparency and accountability and provide an understanding of the Charter, another representative stated. They were sources of reference for assessing the evolution of international law, generally speaking.

During informal consultations in the presence of the United Nations Legal Counsel, Hans Corell, some suggestions were made on how to eliminate the backlog in publishing the documents, including redeploying staff members relieved from previous tasks to work on the publications, using interns and computerizing and creating a data bank. Other recommendations included asking outside institutions for human and financial resources in preparing those

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publications, revising their formats and eliminating duplication between the two publications. Some Committee members argued that additional resources should be requested from the Assembly, while others countered that those goals should be achieved within existing means.

Identifying new subjects for the committee's future consideration, the report mentions a working paper submitted by the Russian Federation entitled "Draft Declaration on the basic principles and criteria for the work of the United Nations peace-keeping missions and mechanisms for the prevention and settlement of crises and conflicts". Introducing that paper, the sponsor called for a General Assembly declaration to provide basic principles for United Nations peace-keeping missions. The paper sought to codify the criteria, principles and general United Nations practice to guide the Security Council and regional arrangements in solving conflicts.

The Committee, some representatives said, should start urgently dealing with issues related to a new generation of conflicts and formulate the definition of a "threat to international peace and security" in connection with the Charter's Article 39, due to its importance to applying sanctions. According to that Article, the Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to or a breach of the peace or act of aggression and recommend or decide what measures to take to maintain or restore peace and security. In addition, proposals to enhance the role of the International Court of Justice should be considered by the Committee. Among other subjects suggested for future consideration was an appellate mechanism to consider impartially whether a party had met the requirements of a sanctions regime.

Special Committee History

By resolution 3499 (XXX) of 15 December 1975, the Assembly decided to reconvene the former ad hoc Committee on the Charter of the United Nations as the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization. The Special Committee first met in 1976 to examine proposals and suggestions regarding the Charter, the strengthening of the role of the Organization with regard to maintenance of international peace and security, development of cooperation among all nations and the promotion of the rules of international law.

General Assembly resolution 50/52 of 11 December 1995 asked the Committee to continue considering, as a priority, the question of implementing Charter provisions on helping third States affected by sanctions imposed under Chapter VII, including the implementation of Assembly resolution 50/51 of 11 December 1995.

Assembly resolution 50/51 stressed that, in formulating sanctions regimes, the potential effects of sanctions on third States should be considered. It requested the Secretary-General, among other things, to make

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arrangements in the Secretariat for assessing information on sanctions' effects on third States and for advising the Security Council on those States' specific needs and problems and then to report to the Assembly's fifty-first session.

In addition, Assembly resolution 50/52 requested the Special Committee to continue considering means to enhance the Security Council's effectiveness in maintaining international peace and security. The Committee was also asked to keep looking at the question of enhancing cooperation between the United Nations and regional arrangements or agencies. It was also asked to retain on its agenda proposals on the peaceful settlement of disputes between States, including proposals on forming a dispute settlement service and enhancing the role of the International Court of Justice.

By that same resolution, the Assembly had expressed its intention to initiate a procedure to amend the Charter, with prospective effect, by deleting the "enemy State" clauses from Articles 53, 77 and 107 at its earliest appropriate future session. (The term "enemy State" applies to any State which, in the Second World War, had been an enemy of any signatory of the Charter.)

The resolution also requested the Special Committee to consider proposals on the Trusteeship Council.

Committee Membership

The previously 47-member Special Committee was opened to all Member States in accordance with General Assembly resolution 50/52. The resolution also authorized the Committee to accept as observers non-Member States that belonged to the specialized agencies or the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Intergovernmental organizations could take part in plenary debates.

Officers

Maria del Lujan Flores (Uruguay) was elected Chairman of the Special Committee during its 1996 session. Paula Escarameia (Portugal), Phakiso Mochochoko (Lesotho) and Seyed Hossein Enayat (Iran) were elected Vice- Chairmen; and Martin Smejkal (Czech Republic) was elected Rapporteur.

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