FIFTH COMMITTEE DISCUSSES PROPOSED UN CODE OF CONDUCT, AS IT CONVENES ITS THIRD AND FINAL RESUMED SESSION

17 August 1998

Press Release
GA/AB/3236

FIFTH COMMITTEE DISCUSSES PROPOSED UN CODE OF CONDUCT, AS IT CONVENES ITS THIRD AND FINAL RESUMED SESSION

19980817 Decides to Limit Its Discussions to Joint Inspection Unit, Human Resources Management, Review of UN Efficiency

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) approved its programme of work, as orally revised, this afternoon as it began the third part of its resumed fifty-second session. It decided to limit its discussion at its final series of meetings to agenda items on the Joint Inspection Unit, human resources management, and review of the United Nations efficiency.

Also this afternoon, the Committee took up the proposed United Nations code of conduct. The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources, Rafiah Salim, introduced the Secretary-General's report containing proposed amendments to the draft code, which would apply only to United Nations staff. She drew attention to the Secretary-General's suggestion that the term "code of conduct" be replaced by "Status, Basic Rights and Duties of Staff".

Several delegations stressed the need for more time to consider the proposed code, while others said that the time had come for the Committee to take a decision.

More time was needed so that all delegations could consider the proposed draft, including its legal aspects, in depth, the representative of the Russian Federation said. The Committee could then take a balanced decision.

However, the representative of New Zealand said that almost five years was enough time to spend in discussion. If the Committee took a decision during the current session, it could focus during the upcoming fifty-third session on its implementation.

While years had been spent on preparing the code, the General Assembly had had very little time to consider the relevant documentation, Cuba's representative said. She further noted that specific values were being promoted through the code, and there was need for clear definitions of terms such as discrimination and harassment.

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Some speakers asked about a separate code of conduct for the Secretary- General, and officers and experts on mission. Responding to questions and comments, the Assistant Secretary-General said work was being undertaken to draft such a code.

Statements were also made this afternoon by the representatives of Indonesia (for the "Group of 77" developing countries and China), Austria (for the European Union and associated States), Syria, Pakistan, Morocco, Egypt, Ghana and Australia.

The Fifth Committee is scheduled to meet again at 3 p.m. on Friday, 21 August, to conclude its third resumed fifty-second session.

Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to begin its third resumed fifty-second session. It was expected to take up reports related to human resources management specifically the proposed United Nations code of conduct.

The Committee had before it the Secretary-General's report on the proposed United Nations code of conduct (document A/52/488), which contains his proposals to the General Assembly to implement the code through revisions to article I of the Staff Regulations promulgated by the Assembly and the related changes that he intends to make to chapter I of the Staff Rules. The provisions in those Regulations and Rules will govern the conduct and performance of staff, ensure their accountability in that regard, as well as set forth their rights and obligations.

The report states that although referred to as a "code of conduct", the provisions constituting the code are an integral part of article I of the Staff Regulations, and chapter I of the 100 series of the Staff Rules. After amendments to the other series of Staff Rules, it will also apply to project personnel and staff members specifically recruited for conference and short-term services.

The code of conduct is in four parts. The first part reiterates provisions from the Charter and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations; the second deals with the status of United Nations staff; the third deals with the core values expected from international civil servants and sets out the basic rights and obligations of staff; and the fourth part deals with expected performance and ensures that staff will be accountable for their performance, and also provides that learning and development programmes will be made available to them.

The major proposed changes to the existing Staff Regulations and Rules include the following: a provision on the duty of the Secretary-General to ensure that the rights and duties of staff members as well as those of staff representatives are respected; a provision on the duty of the Secretary-General to strive for conditions of service necessary to attract staff of the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity; and enunciation of the core values of the international civil service.

Also included are a specific provision on financial disclosure to enable the Secretary-General to ascertain potential conflict of interest situations, and provisions to ensure that staff are not directly or indirectly associated with profit-making or other business concerns if it were possible for them, or the concern to benefit from the staff member's position in the United Nations.

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Among other provisions are those on accountability of staff, particularly managerial accountability, and those concerning the obligation of staff members to respond to requests for information in investigations on possible misuse of funds, waste or abuse.

The report states that the code is accompanied by a commentary designed to explain individual provisions and place them in their overall context. Also, the requisite standards of conduct will be common to all staff members of the Organization, including staff members of all of its principal and subsidiary organs, even those with entirely separate administrative arrangements. To ensure this result, it is recommended that the General Assembly add a sentence to that effect to the scope and purposes provision of the Staff Regulations.

The Secretary-General recommends that the Assembly be asked to approve the present report and to adopt, effective 1 January 1998, the amendment to the scope and purposes provision and article I of the Staff Regulations annexed to the report. The Assembly is also asked to take note of the text of chapter I of the Staff Rules, to be promulgated, effective 1 January 1998, by the Secretary-General. It is also asked to request the Secretary-General to prepare for its consideration a text of the Staff Regulations drafted in gender-neutral terms and to present that text to the Assembly at its fifty-third session.

Also before the Committee was an addendum to the report of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) (document A/52/30/Add.1) for the year 1997 providing the ICSC's comments on the Secretary-General's report. After considering the report and making specific comments, the Commission states that it decided to recommend that the United Nations might proceed with the proposed amendment to its Staff Regulations and Rules, on the understanding that the revised text was applicable to the United Nations only and would not be applicable to other organizations.

Stating that the title of "code of conduct" had created some confusion as to the difference between a code of conduct, standards of conduct, ethics and the Staff Regulations and Rules, the Commission also recommended that the United Nations replace the term by a more appropriate designation.

The General Assembly, in its decision 521 of 31 March 1998, invited the ICSC to examine, as a matter of priority, the code of conduct proposed in the Secretary-General's report, at its forthcoming forty-seventh session.

In an addendum (document A/52/488/Add.1) to his report on the proposed United Nations code of conduct, the Secretary-General suggests revisions to his original proposal based on the comments of the ICSC and of the Staff- Management Coordination Committee, which met from 25 to 29 May.

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In response to the suggestion of the ICSC that the term "code of conduct" be replaced, the Secretary-General proposes the term "status, basic rights and duties of staff". Based on the recommendations made by the Staff- Management Coordination Committee, the Secretary-General proposes to remove from his original proposal the provisions dealing with staff representatives.

The rights, duties and obligations of staff representatives, the addendum states, would be reviewed in the context of Article VIII of the Staff Regulations and Chapter 8 of the Staff Rules, which deal with staff relations, rather than under Article I of the Staff Regulations and Chapter I of the Staff Rules, which are to be amended by the text presently before the General Assembly.

Organization of Work

The Committee began by agreeing to defer until the 53rd session of the General Assembly consideration of the following notes and reports of the Secretary-General concerning: quarterly reporting on the acceptance of type II gratis personnel (A/C.5/52/56); the Development Account (A/C.5/52/1009); savings resulting from improved overall cost-effectiveness achieved pursuant to the ninth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (A/52/898); the report of the Joint Inspection Unit entitled United Nations publications: enhancing cost-effectiveness in implementing legislative mandates (A/51/946) and (A/52/685); furthering the cost accounting system (A/52/1000); revised budget estimate for the period from 1 January to 31 December 1998 for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (A/C.5/52/4/Add.1); the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the follow-up to the 1997 audit and investigation of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (A/52/784); and the revised budget estimate for the period from 1 January to 31 December 1998 (A/C.5/52/13/Add.1). Those reports were deferred because related reports of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) were not yet ready for consideration.

ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh), Fifth Committee Chairman, noted that in connection with the question of the two criminal tribunals, he had been informed by letter that the Chairman of the ACABQ had authorized the Secretary-General to enter into commitments in the amount not exceeding some $2.6 million gross (about $2.4 million net) and also concurred in the Secretary-General entering into commitments in an amount not exceeding some $1.5 million gross (about $1.4 million net) in 1998.

PRAYONO ATIYANTO (Indonesia) speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said the Group of 77 wished to express its continued support for the officers of the Committee and Secretariat of the Fifth Committee and wished to thank them for preparing the proposed programme of work. The Group considered that the document would be of great assistance

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for the orderly conduct of the Committee's work. It was noted that the Committee would not be able to consider some issues of great importance to the Group of 77, namely, Gratis Personnel and the Development Account. That was because the relevant reports of the ACABQ would not be ready.

Late submission of reports continued to be a perennial problem, he said. The Group expected that it would be possible for the ACABQ to adjust its schedule to fit the requirements of the Committee. Furthermore, as the work of the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC) and the Fifth Committee overlapped, there should be better coordination of those two bodies. The little time available to the Fifth Committee should be utilized efficiently. The Group was prepared to constructively discuss all issues on the Committee's agenda.

RAFIAH SALIM, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, introduced the revised proposed code of conduct, by which the earlier document was amended in two ways. After being requested by the Fifth Committee to examine the document, the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) had recommended that the term "code of conduct" be replaced with another term, to avoid misinterpretation. The Secretary-General proposed replacing the term with: "status, basic rights and duties of staff". The revised document also took into account the recommendation of the Staff- Management Coordination Committee (MCC) to remove references to staff representatives. Their rights would be reviewed in the context of article VIII of the Staff Regulations and chapter VIII of the Staff Rules. Any necessary amendments to article VIII of the Regulations would be presented to the Assembly for approval.

ULRIKE BUTSCHEK (Austria) spoke for the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Norway. The Union, whose basic position on the draft code had been expressed previously, welcomed the proposal as part of the track II reform processes initiated by the Secretary-General in 1997. However, the proposed code should not undermine the basic rights of staff.

The Union appreciated that the comments made by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) had been taken into account by the Secretariat, he said. Modifications to the document seemed to respond to problems raised. The Union welcomed the change of the document's title to avoid misinterpretation, and felt it was important to clarify the staff's duties and rights. Noting the proposal to delete references to staff representation and address that issue under a different agenda item, the Union hoped the Fifth Committee could now approve the proposal without further delay.

FAYSSAL MEKDAD (Syria) said that his delegation had been one of those that had requested the referral of the report to the ICSC, and it wished to thank that Committee for its highly relevant remarks on the proposed code.

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While the duties and rights of staff members must be supported, it must not be forgotten that the duties and the rights of the staff members and the rights and interests of the Member States must be kept in equilibrium. It must be highlighted that the discussion and adoption of the code must be considered in light of the biennial review of human resources management.

Accountability and transparency must lay firm ground for the rationale of the code, he said. The proposed code did not meet that standard as regarded the subject of managers. The review of the performance of staff and programme managers alike must be stressed. The work of programme managers in the United Nations was in constant need of appraisal and straightening out. Syria supported the proposal to replace the term "code of conduct".

Mr. ATIYANTO (Indonesia), speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said the Group had considered the addendum and the report, as well as the ICSC report. The Group attached great importance to the subject of Human Resources Management. There was a need to improve staff performance in the United Nations.

The Group wished to note that the time allocated during the current session might allow Member States to have an in-depth discussion, he said. The comments of the ICSC were welcomed and the Group of 77 looked forward to related discussion during the informals. The Group looked forward to early issuance of a code of conduct for the Secretary-General and officials and experts on mission.

AMJAD SIAL (Pakistan) agreed that the name of the proposal had created confusion. However, if the Committee agreed to change the name as proposed, there would still be confusion regarding the remaining parts of the staff rules and regulations. The best alternative would be to call the proposal "revisions to the staff rules and regulations", since the proposal revised or amended only article 1 of the staff regulations and chapter 1 of the staff rules.

The ICSC had recommended that reference to the Secretary-General's rights and duties should be excluded from the proposed document, he said. He supported deleting reference to these from the document, and looked forward to the report on the rights of the Secretary-General and those of staff on missions. The ICSC had further recommended deleting the phrase "in the employment of staff" regarding Regulation 1.1D of the code and his delegation supported that suggestion. The rights, duties and obligations of staff representatives should be reviewed in the context of article VIII of the staff regulations and chapter VIII of the staff rules. EVA SILOT BRAVO (Cuba) said her delegation attributed great importance to the issue of human resources and, in particular, to the draft code of conduct. The debate on the issue had led to a series of questions to which the Secretariat should respond.

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Regarding the name of the code, she said that the proposed change would in some sense restrict the code's scope. There was need for clarification of the true scope of such a code of conduct, in terms of the entire common system. The Committee had felt compelled to move quickly on the draft; other agencies and bodies had perhaps not yet had sufficient time to consider the draft and its implications. There seemed to be intention to harmonize the codes for those working for the United Nations and participating bodies.

Specific values were being indirectly promoted through the code of conduct, and there was need for precision, she said. For example, discrimination and harassment were to be prohibited, but various domestic legislations interpreted such terms differently and therefore, there was need for specific definitions.

IOURI G. ORLOV (Russian Federation) said the question of normalizing or harmonizing the professional conduct of staff members merited attention. Broad scale reform, as had been proposed by the Secretary-General, should touch on the staff of the Organization. On the whole the Russian Federation agreed with the comments of the ICSC on the proposed code.

He hoped that there would be an in-depth discussion of the code that was not too superficial or overly hasty. Time was needed to enable all delegations to consider the document, including its legal aspects, in depth. Then the Committee could take a balanced decision.

ABDESALAM MEDINA (Morocco) said his delegation associated itself with the statement made on behalf of the Group of 77. Morocco would have preferred that consideration of the code take place with sufficient time given for a detailed examination of the question which would have enriched the results of the Committee's work. Since the time for considering the question was too short and many of Morocco's comments had already been made by other delegations, further comments would be made during the informal consultations.

AHMED H. DARWISH (Egypt) said his delegation had supported from the beginning the code proposed by the Secretary-General, as it was going to take care of existing gaps in staff rules and regulations. The report of the ICSC would help to improve the current draft of the code. The statement of Pakistan had made clear the importance of the elements the ICSC had touched on. Egypt supported the statement made on behalf of the Group of 77.

HENRY HANSON-HALL (Ghana) said the Organization must get staff members to perform important tasks while at the same time safe guarding their interests. The reports raised interesting and useful issues that must be discussed fully in the informal consultations. It was to be noted that the ICSC and the Secretary-General had had extensive consultation with staff members.

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More deliberation was needed regarding the title of the code, he said. Also, the issue of the automaticity of the application of the code, if adopted, must be looked into. A positive effort should be made to discuss the item so that progress could be made.

ELENA NG (Panama) said she appreciated the two reports and wished to recall the position of the Group of 77 and China. A satisfactory solution must be found.

MILES ARMITAGE (Australia) said Australia had spoken on the subject several times. Its support for adopting the code still stood. The ICSC comment that it perceived that there was no impediment for the General Assembly adopting the code was very important. Australia had suggested the third resumed session as a forum for further consideration of the matter. A number of delegations were merely calling for more time. That was disappointing to Australia.

The proposed Code of Conduct was a straightforward matter to Australia, but it acknowledged the concerns of other delegations, he said. Australia hoped that the matter would not be allowed to linger on. Australia took exception to the notion of adopting the code in haste, he added.

Ms. SALIM said that the code would apply solely to the United Nations. It was nothing more than an amendment to article I and rule I of the United Nations staff rules and regulations, and had no application to the common system.

To questions about the impact on other rules and regulations, she said that the proposed amendment to article 1 and rule 1, if adopted, would replace only those parts of the existing rules and regulations. The remaining rules and regulations would exist as currently worded unless further amendments were proposed, at which time the Committee would again consider the matter.

Work was currently being undertaken to draft a code for the Secretary- General and mission personnel, she said. When it was ready, it would be brought before the Committee. Regarding managers, she said such personnel were employed by the United Nations, and thus members of the Organization's staff. Any reference to staff also applied to managers.

To a suggestion to refer the document back to a working group of the ICSC, she said the document applied to the United Nations specifically, while the ICSC's mandate was broader. To a question about the future status of the 1954 Standards of Conduct in the International Civil Service, she said it would remain in effect, even if the current amendments were approved, since it covered the common system.

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WEN CHIN POWLES (New Zealand) said she found the clarifications just made acceptable. As her colleague from Australia had stated, four years -- now it was close to five years -- was enough time to spend in discussion, particular on a series of amendments. If the Committee took a decision during the current General Assembly session, it could focus during the fifty-third session on its implementation.

Ms. SILOT BRAVO (Cuba) said there was need for in-depth discussion on the matter, in the context of informal discussions. The General Assembly had not had much time to consider the item and new documentation on the matter had just been issued. While four years had been spent on preparing the code, the General Assembly had had very little time to consider the relevant documentation.

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