IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES UNDERLINED BY LEGAL COMMITTEE TEXT

18 November 1997

Press Release
GA/L/3064

IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES UNDERLINED BY LEGAL COMMITTEE TEXT

19971118 Two Other Drafts, Also Approved without Vote, Concern UN Law Decade, 1999 Centennial of First International Peace Conference

The General Assembly would underline the importance of effective negotiations in the management of international relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes, by a draft resolution approved, without a vote, by the Sixth Committee (Legal) this morning.

The 21-Power text would have the Assembly take note of the draft guiding principles for international negotiations, which was considered at the current session, and the comments and proposals made during a debate on the issue. States and relevant international organizations would be invited to submit views on the draft for consideration by the working group on the United Nations Decade of International Law during the Assembly's next session.

The representative of Mongolia said the exchange of views on the subject had highlighted its importance. There was no hidden agenda behind the elaboration and adoption of the guiding principles for negotiations. He stressed that there was no attempt to restrict the freedom of choice in the peaceful settlement of disputes by placing more emphasis on direct negotiations, nor to strictly codify the rules of negotiations.

In other actions, the Committee approved, without a vote, a draft text on the United Nations Decade of International Law. By that draft, the Assembly would encourage States to disseminate information on the Decade at the national level and to ratify or accede to the 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or between International Organizations. The General Assembly would also encourage international organizations that had signed the Convention to deposit an act of its formal confirmation.

* The meeting number on pages 1 and 1a of Press Release GA/L/3063 of 14 November should have read the 30th.

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The Committee also approved, without a vote, a draft resolution on activities to be undertaken to commemorate the 1999 centennial of the first International Peace Conference and the closing of the International Law Decade. By the text, the General Assembly would welcome the programme of action presented by the Governments of the Netherlands and the Russian Federation which aimed at contributing to the further development of the themes of the first and the second International Peace Conferences and which could be regarded as a third conference. The Assembly would encourage the two Governments to proceed with implementation of the programme, and all States to participate in them.

Among the activities planned for the centennial is the convening of a peace conference from 17 to 19 May 1999 at The Hague. In addition, events will be organized all over the world in relation to the dawn of the millennium, with a possible link to the 1899 Hague Peace Conference or any of its themes, namely, the armament question; humanitarian law and the laws and customs of war; and the peaceful settlement of disputes. As regards programme of activities for the final term (1997-1999) of the United Nations Decade of International Law, rapporteurs of major international standing have been invited to study the relevant developments of The Hague themes, and to formulate views on their further developments. The studies are to be presented to the Assembly next year.

Also this morning, the representative of Ghana, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law, presented the report on its activities. He also introduced a draft resolution on the Programme, report which asked that the budget for the Programme for the next and future bienniums be reconsidered with the view to strengthening and enhancing it.

Statements were made by the representatives of China, Lebanon and Cuba.

The Sixth Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 19 November, to consider the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country and also take action on remaining draft resolutions.

Committee Work Programme

The Sixth Committee (Legal) met this morning to take action on three draft resolutions relating to the United Nations Decade of International Law (1990-1999), and to consider a report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law.

Before the Committee is a draft resolution on United Nations Decade of International Law (document A/C.6/52/L.12) by which the General Assembly would request the working group of the Sixth Committee on the subject to continue its work at the Assembly's next session.

By the text, the Assembly would invite all States and international bodies referred to in the programme of action on the closing of the Decade to provide, update or supplement information on activities they had undertaken to the Secretary-General. States would be encouraged to disseminate information on the Decade at the national level and to ratify or accede to the 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or between International Organizations. The Assembly would encourage international organizations that had signed the Convention to deposit an act of its formal confirmation. Similar bodies entitled to do so would also be encouraged to accede to the instrument at an early date.

States parties and international organizations or agencies, including depositaries would be encouraged to provide a copy of the text of any treaty in disk or other electronic format and with translations in English or French or both in connection with the publication of the United Nations Treaty Series. The Secretary-General would also be encouraged to continue to develop a policy of providing Internet access to the Series and the Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General.

By the terms of the draft, the Secretariat's Office of Legal Affairs would be encouraged to continue to facilitate access to information concerning United Nations activities in the field of international law and to bring the United Nations Juridical Yearbook up to date.

Before the Committee is a draft text on action to be taken dedicated to the 1999 centennial of the first International Peace Conference and to the closing of the Law Decade (document A/C.6/52/L.5).

By that draft, the General Assembly would welcome the programme of action presented by the Governments of the Netherlands and the Russian Federation which aims at contributing to the further development of the themes of the first and the second International Peace Conferences and which could be regarded as a third international peace conference.

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The Assembly would encourage the two Governments to proceed with implementation of the programme, and all States to participate in them, as well as to initiate similar activities. In addition, States would be encouraged to coordinate their activities at the global, regional and national levels. They would also be encouraged to take appropriate measures to ensure universal participation, including by representatives of the least developed countries.

Competent United Nations organs and specialized agencies, including the International Court of Justice, the International Law Commission and the Secretariat, would similarly be encouraged to cooperate in the programme's implementation. The Secretary-General would be asked to ensure consistency of the Organization's activities for the closing of the Law Decade with the Programme of Action.

The Assembly would decide to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-third session, under the item on the United Nations Decade of International Law, a sub-item on progress in the action dedicated to the 1999 centennial.

In his letter to the Secretary-General outlining the programme (document A/C.6/52/3), the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands states that, among the activities planned is the convening of a centennial peace conference from 17 to 19 May 1999 at The Hague. In addition, events will be organized all over the world in relation to the dawn of the millennium, with a possible link to the 1899 Hague Peace Conference or any of its themes, namely, the armament question; humanitarian law and the laws and customs of war; and the peaceful settlement of disputes. As regards programme of activities for the final term (1997-1999) of the Law Decade, rapporteurs of major international standing have been invited to study the relevant developments of The Hague themes, and to formulate views on their further developments. The studies are to be presented to the Assembly at its next session.

A draft resolution on the draft guiding principles for international negotiations (document A/C.6/52/L.4/Rev.1) would have the General Assembly underline the importance of effective negotiations in the management of international relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes, and in the creation of new international norms of conduct of States.

The draft, co-sponsored by 19 Member States, would have the Assembly take note of the draft guiding principles presented at its current session and comments and proposals made. States and relevant international organizations would be invited to submit views on the question for consideration by the working group on the United Nations Decade of International Law during the Assembly's fifty-third session.

The Assembly would decide to include in the provisional agenda of that session a sub-item on the draft guiding principles.

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The draft is sponsored by Brunei Darussalam, Colombia, Guatemala, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Portugal, Qatar, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Sudan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Uruguay and Viet Nam.

In his report (document A/52/524), the Secretary-General detailed the implementation of the Programme of Assistance and made recommendations regarding its execution in subsequent years.

The report gave an account of the activities undertaken by the United Nations itself and of those in which it had participated in, as well as a description of the contributions conducted by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the United Nations Educations, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Programme of Assistance was established by the General Assembly in December 1965. The encouragement of the teaching, study, dissemination and wider appreciation of international law has been considered one of the main purposes of the 1990-1999 United Nations Decade of International Law.

According to the report, the United Nations conducted such activities as the International Law Seminar held from June to July 1996 in Geneva for young professors and government officials, mostly from developing countries. Held in conjunction with the forty-eighth session of the International Law Commission, it allowed participants to familiarize themselves with the work of the Commission and the activities of the many international organizations that have their headquarters in Geneva. With the depletion of available funds for the programme, however, the Commission recommended that the General Assembly again appeal to States to make voluntary contributions needed to hold the Seminar in 1998.

The United Nations also held the International Law Fellowship Programme, designed to enable 18 qualified persons from developing countries to deepen their knowledge of international law and to have an opportunity for an informal exchange of views on legal problems of common interest or of special concern to their respective countries. Participants attended lectures on public and private international law at The Hague Academy of International Law. The Office of Legal Affairs, as well as UNITAR, also participated in the Fellowship Programme. The UNITAR also implemented a fellowship programme in peacemaking and preventive diplomacy and initiated a training programme in international environmental law.

The Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship on the Law of the Sea was awarded in 1996. That programme allowed post-graduate level study and research in the field of law of the sea.

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The Programme of Assistance also included the publication of materials relevant to the dissemination of international law. Those publications included the United Nations Treaty Series, an electronic database of treaties and treaty information meant to reduce the processing time for treaties submitted for registration with the Secretariat and to expedite their publication process. Other publications included the United Nations Juridical Yearbook and the United Nations Reports of International Arbitral Awards.

The UNESCO prepared a document on teaching and research in the field of human rights at the higher education level for French-speaking countries. It also prepared the third edition of the World Directory of Human Rights Research and Training Institutions.

In his guidelines and recommendations for executing the Programme of Assistance in 1998-1999, the Secretary-General said the International Law Seminar, the fellowships, and the publications would continue if sufficient voluntary contributions were made by States. Such activities, however, should be carefully evaluated in order to make them as effective and as efficient as possible. He recommended that the activities of the Programme of Assistance be open to a limited number of observers from States if governments were willing to cover the expenses of their observers. Also, use of the trust fund to finance administrative and other expenses of the International Law Fellowship Programme should be used with extreme caution. As far as possible, resources made available by Member States should be used instead of the fund.

To reduce costs of the Fellowship Programme, he recommended that seminars be conducted alternately in English and French, instead of conducting them bilingually. That move would save approximately $26,000 per biennium.

In the report, the Secretary-General proposed the creation of a United Nations audiovisual library in international law. That library would collect and produce audio and video tapes useful for training and teaching international law and would be open to States and their educational institutions. The goal of the library would be to assist States and their universities in incorporating international law courses in their curricula. It was also meant to assist States in providing training opportunities in international law for government officials. A detailed proposal for the library is contained in an annex to the report.

On the administrative and financial implications of United Nations participation in the Programme of Assistance for 1996 to 1997, he said a total of $358,200 was appropriated from regular budget sources for the Programme. Pursuant to General Assembly resolutions 50/214 and 50/215, the budget for the Office of Legal Affairs was reduced by 15 per cent. In order to maintain the usual number of participants in the Fellowship Programme, $7,900 was withdrawn from the Trust Fund.

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On the financial implication for 1998-1999, the Secretary-General proposed repeating his request for voluntary contributions to the Fellowship Programme with the goal of increasing the number of fellowship grants to candidates from developing countries.

The recommendations made by the Advisory Committee of the Programme of Assistance included the further utilization of the Internet and the United Nations home page to disseminate material on international law. It also suggested that intellectual property and peace-building be added among the topics covered in the International Law Fellowship Programme.

Statements on Programme of Assistance

ERIC ODOI-ANIM (Ghana), Chairman of the Advisory Committee on the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law, said he had observed the evolution of the Programme over the last two years. Over the years, the number of applicants seeking fellowships and participation in the Programme had increased greatly, and much of that demand had come from developing countries.

What was most noticeable to the Advisory Committee was the high quality of programmes offered during the past biennium. It also looked favourably on the Secretary-General's proposal to launch a new component of the Programme, an audiovisual library in international law. The library would be designed to assist States, especially developing ones, to incorporate international law into their law school curricula. It was also meant to aid government officials in the use of international law in the course of their work. It should also be noted that no annual budget had been allocated for the library, and it relied entirely on contributions.

The Advisory Committee expressed concern regarding the Programme's budget which had not been increased in the last several years. Also the total funds for the Programme had decreased by nearly $23,000 over those years. Steps should be taken to ensure adequate funding for the Programme. The benefits of the Programme were great considering its relatively small budget, and States should contribute to the Programme when they were able regardless of the amount.

He then introduced the draft resolution on the Programme of Assistance (document A/C.6/52/L.17), by which the Assembly would request the Secretary- General to reconsider the budget for the Programme for the next and future bienniums with a view to strengthening and enhancing it. It would also approve the establishment of a United Nations audiovisual library in international law to collect and produce audio and video tapes for training in and teaching of international law.

By the terms of the text, the Assembly would reiterate its request to Member States and to interested organizations and individuals to make voluntary

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contributions for the International Law Seminar and other activities under the Programme. It would also urge governments to make contributions for the organization of regional refresher courses in international law by UNITAR.

GAO FENG (China) said that, since 1978, China had been pursuing a policy of reform and of opening up to the outside world. It also sought to accelerate the building of democracy and the legal system. The then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping proposed to strengthen vigorously research in international law so that China could take a more active part in international exchanges. The first academic programme in international law began in 1979 at Beijing University. Currently, more than a dozen law colleges and institutes in China had their own international law departments, and five universities offered programmes in international law. Furthermore, as international economic relations continued to grow and China's trade and economic activities with other countries continued to expand, international economic law programmes had been set up in some universities and more courses in international economic law had been added.

At the beginning of the United Nations Law Decade he said, the Chinese Government had helped sponsor and hosted the seminar on developing countries and international environmental law. Non-governmental research institutions and organizations in China were also playing an important role in promoting exchanges and cooperation in international law research. China would continue to pursue the promotion and dissemination of international law.

HICHAM HAMDAN (Lebanon) said seminars were very important and efforts should be made to increase the number of participants. Possibilities offered by information technologies could be looked into in the organization of the seminars to ensure wider participation. Academics from various countries representing different legal systems should be invited to participate in the seminars to allow for greater interaction and better understanding of international law. He hoped more financial contributions would be made for the organization of seminars. Regional and subregional seminars were important because they could help the development of different legal norms and help foster domestic legislation. He commended the Office of Legal Counsel for its dissemination of information about treaties.

Action on Texts

The Committee approved the draft resolution on the United Nations Decade of International Law (document A/C.6/52?l.12), without a vote.

The Committee then approved the draft resolution vote on action to be taken dedicated to the 1999 centennial of the first International Peace Conference and to the closing of the Law Decade (document A/C.6/52/L.5), without a vote.

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Speaking before action on the text on draft guiding principles for international negotiation, the representative of Lebanon commended Mongolia for proposing the item and added that his delegation would join the co-sponsors.

The representative of Mongolia said the co-sponsors of the draft were gratified with the overall positive attitude and support of the draft. Forty delegations had taken part in an exchange of views on the draft principles. The discussions had highlighted the importance of the issue, and they would be valuable in improving and enriching the content of the draft principles.

He said there was no hidden agenda behind the elaboration and adoption of the guiding principles for negotiations. The sense of caution that some delegations had displayed at the beginning was understandable. There was no attempt to restrict the freedom of choice in the peaceful settlement of disputes by placing more emphasis on direct negotiations, nor to strictly codify the rules of negotiations. He hoped those and other relevant questions would be discussed during the next stage of consideration of the sub-item on the draft guidelines.

The representative of Cuba said her delegation would also like to join the list of co-sponsors.

The Committee then approved, without a vote, the text on draft guiding principles for international negotiations (document A/C.6/52/L.4/Rev.1).

Speaking after the action, the representative of the Solomon Islands said the Mongolian delegation should consider bringing together all provisions in the Charter relating to international negotiations and other instruments on the subject, to help delegations in their consideration of the item at the next session of the Assembly.

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