INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION TO HOLD FORTY-EIGHTH SESSION GENEVA, 6 MAY - 26 JULY

6 May 1996

Press Release
L/2788

INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION TO HOLD FORTY-EIGHTH SESSION GENEVA, 6 MAY - 26 JULY

19960506 Background Release Experts to Focus on Draft Code of Crimes Against Peace and Security, Question of State Responsibility

GENEVA, 3 May (UN Information Service) -- The preliminary adoption of a draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind and further progress on the matter of State responsibility will top the agenda of the forty-eighth session of the International Law Commission, which begins on Monday, 6 May, in Geneva, and is scheduled to end on 26 July.

The Commission, a panel of 34 experts serving in their individual capacity, made appreciable progress on the Code last year and decided to attach priority to the conclusion of a second reading at this session. The Code, as approved on first reading in 1991, covered 12 crimes, including apartheid, colonial domination, the recruitment and use of mercenaries and wilful and severe damage to the environment.

But there is still disagreement on the scope of the future instrument. Last year, the Commission's Special Rapporteur on the subject, Doudou Thiam, recommended that the list of crimes to be included be limited to those offences "whose characterization as crimes against the peace and security of mankind was hard to challenge", namely, aggression, genocide, systematic or mass violations of human rights, exceptionally serious war crimes, international terrorism and illicit traffic in narcotic drugs (document A/CN.4/466). The Commission, however, sent only the draft articles on the first four of those to its drafting committee for consideration as a matter of priority on second reading.

At the forty-seventh session, the Commission also decided to establish a working group that would meet at the beginning of this session to examine the possibility of covering in the draft Code the issue of wilful and severe damage to the environment.

Concerning State responsibility, the Commission hopes to complete the first reading of a set of draft articles at this session. Last year, the Commission provisionally adopted texts on the proportionality of the countermeasures taken by an injured State and on which countermeasures should be prohibited. Seven articles were also adopted regarding the settlement of

disputes. At this session, the Commission's drafting committee will consider draft articles submitted at the last session by Special Rapporteur Gaetano Arangio-Ruiz on the international responsibility of States for crimes (documents A/CN.4/469 and Adds.1 and 2). The decision to send those articles to the committee last year provoked debate, as some Commission members argued that the content of State crimes should await a reconsideration by the Commission of the question of "State crime" itself. Other members held that the article containing the concept of "State crime" had been adopted unopposed on first reading.

During this session, the Commission will also examine international liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law. Last year, the Commission made headway as regards prevention and the notion of damage caused to the environment, as well as on freedom of action by States and the limits thereto.

Also in 1995, the Commission for the first time undertook work on "the law and practice relating to reservations to treaties" and on "State succession and its impact on the nationality of natural and legal persons". Discussion on these two subjects will continue at this session.

Commission Background

The Commission was established by the General Assembly in 1947 to codify customary international law and to promote the codification and progressive development of international law in areas where customary law did not exist or had not sufficiently evolved. Its expert members represent the world's principal legal systems. The Commission also designates special rapporteurs to propose work programmes and draft articles on topics chosen by the Commission itself or referred to it by the General Assembly.

During the preparation of draft articles, the Commission solicits the views of governments. After completing work on a particular topic, it may call on the General Assembly to convene an international conference of plenipotentiaries to incorporate the drafts into multilateral agreements. At other times, the Assembly may simply take note of the Commission's work and bring it to the attention of Member States for consideration.

The following are some of the international instruments which have emerged as a result of the Commission's work: the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations; 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations; 1969 Convention on the Law of Treaties; 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Person, including Diplomatic Agents; 1975 Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in Their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character; 1978 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of State Property, Archives and Debts; and the 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

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between States and International Organizations or between International Organizations.

Commission Membership, Officers

The five-year terms of the 34 expert members of the Commission, elected by the General Assembly, will expire on 31 December 1996.

The Commission's members are: Husain Al-Baharna (Bahrain), Awn Al-Khasawneh (Jordan), Gaetano Arangio-Ruiz (Italy), Julio Barboza (Argentina), Mohamed Bennouna (Morocco), Derek William Bowett (United Kingdom), Carlos Calero Rodrigues (Brazil), James Crawford (Australia), John de Saram (Sri Lanka), Gudmundur Eiriksson (Iceland), Nabil Elaraby (Egypt), Salifou Fomba (Mali), Mehmet Guney (Turkey), Qizhi He (China), Kamil Idris (Sudan), Andreas Jacovides (Cyprus), Peter Kabatsi (Uganda), Mochtar Kusuma-Atmadja (Indonesia), Ahmed Mahiou (Algeria), Vaclav Mikulka (Czech Republic), Guillaume Pambou-Tchivounda (Gabon), Alain Pellet (France), Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao (India), Edilbert Razafindralambo (Madagascar), Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica), Robert Rosenstock (United States), Alberto Szekely (Mexico), Doudou Thiam (Senegal), Christian Tomuschat (Germany), Edmundo Vargas Carreno (Chile), Igor Ivanovich Lukashuk (Russian Federation), Francisco Villagran Kramer (Guatemala), Chusei Yamada (Japan), and Alexander Yankov (Bulgaria).

The Chairman of the forty-seventh session was Mr. Rao (India). Mr. Pambou-Tchivounda (Gabon) was the first Vice-Chairman and Mr. Guney (Turkey) the second Vice-Chairman. The Chairman of the drafting committee was Mr. Yankov (Bulgaria). Mr. Villagran Kramer (Guatemala) was the Rapporteur. A new Chairman for the forty-eighth session and a new Chairman for the drafting committee will be elected at the beginning of the session.

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