SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON UN CHARTER CONCLUDES TWO-WEEK SESSION

Press Release
L/2852

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON UN CHARTER CONCLUDES TWO-WEEK SESSION

The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization this afternoon concluded its two-week session after approving its report to the General Assembly, which contains proposals for strengthening the International Court of Justice, implementing Charter provisions on assistance to third States affected by United Nations sanctions, and increasing the number of officers in the Assembly's Main Committees.

On the International Court of Justice, the Committee's report contains its consideration of working papers, submitted by Guatemala and Costa Rica, on possible amendments to the Court's Statute to extend its competence to disputes between States and international organizations.

With regard to the implementation of the provisions of the Charter related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter and the implementation of related General Assembly resolutions, the Committee recommended that the Assembly consider at its fifty-third session the Secretary-General's report on the results of the ad hoc expert meeting on the subject, to be convened in accordance with Assembly resolution 52/162 of 15 December 1997. The recommendation was proposed by South Africa and Ukraine.

The Committee also recommended to the Assembly that future Committee sessions be scheduled, to the extent possible, later in the first half of any given year. The recommendation, proposed by Portugal, reflected the Committee's discussion during the current session of its method of work.

Also this afternoon, the Committee adopted section III of its report, on maintenance of international peace and security, by approving a portion concerning a Russian Federation working paper that provides ideas on the basic conditions and criteria for imposing and implementing sanctions and other enforcement measures.

In his closing statement, the Chairman of the Special Committee, Trevor Pascal Chimimba (Malawi), thanked members for their contributions to the

discussion, which demonstrated that the Special Committee could contribute enormously to the work of the United Nations. He appealed to the sponsors of the various proposals to take into account the views expressed during the session, so that the Committee would be able to advance its work at the next session.

Closing statement were also made by the United Kingdom (on behalf of the Western Group), Zimbabwe (on behalf of the African Group), Czech Republic (on behalf of the Eastern European Group), Guatemala (on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean Group), and India (on behalf of the Asian Group).

Starting yesterday afternoon, the Committee conducted a paragraph-by- paragraph review and approval of the report's six sections, five of which summarize the Committee's actions and its plenary and working group discussions. The six sections are: introduction; recommendations; maintenance of international peace and security; peaceful settlement of disputes; the Trusteeship Council; and new subjects identified for the Committee's future work and assistance to working groups on the revitalization of the United Nations.

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

Report of Special Committee

The Special Committee's report contains both its recommendations and the summaries of its discussions on various subjects.

On the agenda item on maintaining international peace and security (section III), delegations underscored the importance they attached to the question of assistance to third States affected by sanctions. In that connection, some delegations made reference to a communiqué issued by the Non-Aligned Movement at a meeting held in New Delhi, which had stressed the importance the Movement attached to the question of assistance to third States affected by imposition of sanctions and to the need to find a permanent solution to the problem.

With regard to the carrying out of sanctions in general, some delegations stressed that, since sanctions were adopted collectively, their consequences should also be borne equitably by all States. Given their grave consequences, sanctions should only be imposed after other peaceful measures had failed. Delegations also stressed that before sanctions were imposed, it was necessary to define carefully their scope and content and that a time-frame should be provided within which to apply them. Furthermore, they should be lifted as soon as the intended objective had been met.

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Delegations also expressed the view that the sanctions committees should not widen the scope of application of sanctions, as doing so could increase the negative consequences on third States.

Also discussed was the idea of setting up a focal point within the Secretariat to collate information and to oversee the implementation of sanctions. Some delegations stressed, however, that such an undertaking did not, in itself, constitute a solution to the overall problem of alleviating the negative effects on third States. According to some delegations, it was imperative that a permanent mechanism should be established for compensating them from harm suffered as a result.

Also discussed under that agenda item was a working paper submitted by the Russian Federation on some ideas on the basic conditions and criteria for imposing and implementing sanctions and other enforcement measures.

A number of delegations welcomed the new working paper, saying it contained a number of important ideas which, once developed, would usefully complement the provisions of the Charter and provide the Security Council with clear and objective criteria to guide its decisions on the imposition, implementation and lifting of sanctions. Other delegations, however, expressed reservations about the suggestion, since the proposal dealt with matters that had already been addressed at length by the General Assembly in annex II to resolution 51/242.

Also under that agenda item, the Committee considered a draft declaration submitted by the Russian Federation proposing fundamentals of the legal basis for United Nations peacekeeping operations in the context of Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations.

In discussion of the issue, some delegations expressed the view that there was no practical need to elaborate a fixed set of legal principles for peacekeeping operations, as suggested in the working paper, since there was already sufficient legal basis and practical experience for such activities. It was suggested that a fixed set of principles could restrict the flexibility with which each operation needed to operate, raise controversies and, thus, negatively affect the United Nations potential in that area. In response, the Russian Federation stated that the valuable practice of the United Nations in that field needed proper consolidation and normative regulation in order to make the entire area of peacekeeping, as well as concrete peacekeeping operations, more effective.

Also presented in section III of the report was a working paper, submitted by the Cuban delegation, regarding the question of strengthening the role of the Organization and enhancing its effectiveness". That paper dealt, in particular, with the issue of the respective powers of the Security Council and the General Assembly in the maintenance of international peace and security. It offered,

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among other things, an analysis of specific provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, in order to illustrate the expansion of the functions of the Security Council in violation of the balance of powers enshrined in the Charter between the Security Council and the General Assembly.

Some delegations expressed the view that the working paper was a thoughtful one and that it constituted a significant contribution containing interesting elements that merited consideration by the Committee. The view was expressed that the working paper provided an interesting legal context for discussion by drawing attention to the functions and powers of the General Assembly under the United Nations Charter.

A suggestion was made that the sponsor delegation prepare a draft resolution on the subject matter dealt with in the working paper, which could become a recommendation of the Special Committee to the General Assembly. Some delegations, however, expressed their opposition to having a recommendation on the issue.

Section III of the report also contained a consideration of a revised proposal presented by Libya with a view to strengthening the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security. In introducing a revised proposal on the subject, the sponsor delegation stressed the ongoing current suffering and the problems arising from the failure of the Security Council to perform its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, owing to the hegemony being exercised upon the Council and the way in which its functions were being interpreted.

The sponsor delegation drew attention to several elements of the proposal. Those included: the need for expanding and enlarging the responsibilities and the jurisdiction of the General Assembly; eliminating the veto power in the Security Council; the lack of seriousness in approaching those matters; and expanding of membership in the Security Council.

On the agenda item on the peaceful settlement of disputes (section IV), the Special Committee discussed a working paper, submitted by Guatemala, on possible amendments to the Statute of the International Court of Justice to extend its competence with respect to contentious matters to disputes between States and international organizations. Also discussed was an alternative drafting to the Guatemalan working paper, submitted by Costa Rica. The text covered the same subject matter as Guatemala's proposal, but introduced only changes to the Charter and to the Court's Statute necessary to achieving the purposes of the original proposal.

In discussing the working papers, Committee members observed that since the Statute of the International Court of Justice formed an integral part of the Charter of the United Nations, adoption of the proposed reforms would necessarily entail amendment of the Charter. Currently, there was no

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consensus on embarking on the lengthy and complex process of amending the Charter. The two proposals were, therefore, untimely and premature. It was also pointed out that the General Assembly, in paragraph 4 of its resolution 52/161 of 16 December 1997, had recently taken a position that the Statute of the Court should not be the subject of an amendment.

Some delegations expressed doubts whether there was any pressing or practical need for a reform of the type proposed. There already existed a wide range of mechanisms for settling disputes of the type envisaged by the two proposals.

The suggestion was made that, in order to assist in the further consideration of the two proposals within the Committee, the General Assembly might circulate a questionnaire to ascertain the views of States regarding the feasibility and desirability of amending the Statute of the International Court. At the last meeting of the working group, the delegation of Guatemala introduced a draft of a questionnaire addressed by the General Assembly to States regarding the proposal to extend the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in contentious cases to disputes between States and intergovernmental organizations.

Some delegations were of the view that the issues raised in the proposed questionnaire required an in-depth discussion, which was not possible at the current time.

Also under that agenda item was a proposal submitted by Sierra Leone on the establishment of a dispute prevention and early settlement service. While some delegations felt that the proposal was a useful one deserving further consideration, it was also suggested that the proposal should be less ambitious in scope, and that it should not deal with preventive diplomacy, but rather confine itself to the peaceful settlement of disputes. In that connection, it was suggested that if the service were to be effective in settling disputes, it would need to be reinforced with experts with different backgrounds, so as to be able to deal with disputes that were highly technical in nature and varied in scope.

In discussing the agenda item on the Trusteeship Council's future (section V), reference was made to a proposal submitted by Malta to convert the Trusteeship Council into a coordinator for the global commons or the common heritage of mankind. In addition, reference was made to a recommendation contained in the report of the Secretary-General of 14 July 1997 entitled "Renewing the United Nations: a programme for reform" (document A/51/950), proposing that the Trusteeship Council be reconstituted as the forum through which Member States exercised their collective trusteeship for the integrity of the global environment and such common areas as oceans, atmosphere and outer space.

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Some delegations expressed their conviction that the Trusteeship Council should be abolished since its mandate had been fulfilled. The point was made that the proposal by the Secretary-General seemed to indicate that Member States had already agreed to retain the Council, while, in reality, there were divergent views on the matter.

Other delegations were of the view that the abolition of the Trusteeship Council would be premature and unnecessary, since a case of trusteeship might arise in the future and because keeping the organ in existence had no financial implications for the Organization. The abolition of the Council would also require the cumbersome process of reforming the Charter. As proposals concerning the Trusteeship Council continued to elicit conflicting views, the Committee decided it was premature to make any recommendations on them.

On the agenda item concerning identifying new subjects, the view was expressed that, given the number of proposals currently on its agenda, it was preferable for the Committee to advance that work before deciding on possible new areas of work. Some delegations indicated, however, that it might not be prudent to wait until the Special Committee had completely exhausted its current agenda before deciding on new topics, since that approach, if carried to an extreme, might lead to a fracture in the Committee's work.

History of Special Committee

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 suggestions regarding the Charter, the strengthening of the role of the Organization in maintaining international peace and security, development of cooperation among all nations, and the promotion of the rules of international law.

General Assembly resolution 51/209 of 17 December 1996 asked the Committee to consider proposals concerning the maintenance of international peace and security, assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter, and the question of the peaceful settlement of disputes between States, including proposals on establishing a dispute settlement service. The Committee was also asked to continue considering the future role of the Trusteeship Council.

Further, the Assembly invited the Committee to: continue identifying new subjects for consideration in its future work, with a view to contributing to the revitalization of the work of the United Nations; discuss how to offer its assistance to the working groups of the Assembly; and consider ways of improving coordination between the Committee and other working groups dealing with the reform of the Organization.

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Regarding the maintenance of international peace and security, the Assembly requested the Committee to consider all proposals to strengthen the United Nations role. It should examine other proposals already submitted or which may be submitted to the Committee's current session.

The Committee was also asked to consider Assembly resolutions 50/51 and 51/208 on the implementation of Charter provisions on assistance to third States affected by sanctions.

By the terms of resolution 51/208, the Assembly underlined the importance of consultations under Article 50 of the Charter, as early as possible, with third States confronted with special economic problems arising from the implementation of sanctions imposed by the Council. The Assembly invited the Council to consider setting up further mechanisms for consultations on how to solve those problems.

Article 50 grants third States the right to hold consultations with the Council on how to solve the economic problems they faced as a result of sanctions imposed on other, targeted States.

Committee Membership

The previously 47-member Special Committee was opened to all Member States by Assembly resolution 50/52 of December 1995, which 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

Trevor Pascal Chimimba (Malawi) was elected Chairman of the Special Committee for its 1998 session. Yesim Baykal (Turkey), Gaile Ann Ramoutar (Trinidad and Tobago) and Markiyan Z. Kulyk (Ukraine) were elected Vice- Chairmen; Hiroshi Kawamura (Japan) was elected Rapporteur.

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