GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS 34 MEMBERS TO INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION
| Press Release GA/9949 |
Fifty-sixth General Assembly
Plenary
39th Meeting (AM)
GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS 34 MEMBERS TO INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION
Representatives, Chosen from All Regions, Will Serve 5-year Terms
In two rounds of secret balloting, the General Assembly this morning elected 34 members of the International Law Commission for a period of 5 years starting on 1 January 2002. They were elected from a list of 45 candidates.
In accordance with Assembly resolution 36/39 of 18 November 1981, nine nationals had to be elected from African States, eight from Asian States, three from Eastern European States, six from Latin American and Caribbean States, and eight from Western European and Other States. Accordingly, those candidates, not exceeding the number of seats to be filled, receiving the greatest number of votes and not less than a majority of the votes of Member States present and voting, were elected.
The International Law Commission was established by the Assembly in its resolution 174 (II) of 21 November 1947 to promote progressive development of international law and its codification. In accordance with the Commission’s statute, persons to be elected should be persons of recognized competence in international law. The statute also provided that “in the Commission as a whole representation of the main forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems of the world should be assured”.
Announcements
The Assembly was informed that on Friday, 9 November at noon there would be an informal segment in the Assembly Hall to hear from the Group of Eminent Persons’ appointed by the Secretary-General in connection with the ‘Year of Dialogue among Civilizations’.
It was announced that the Secretary-General would make a statement at the outset of the Assembly’s general debate on Saturday, 10 November, at 10 a.m.
The Assembly is to meet again tomorrow, Thursday 8 November, at 10 a.m. to take up the item Dialogue among Civilizations.
Background
The General Assembly met this morning to elect 34 members to the International Law Commission for five-year terms beginning on 1 January 2002. It had before it three notes by the Secretary-General on the subject.
In one of the communications (document A/56/117 and Corr.1 and Add.1-3) the Secretary-General states that the International Law Commission was established by the Assembly in its resolution 174 (II) of 21 November 1947 to promote progressive development of international law and its codification.
According to the note, the election for the 34 members –- nine from African States, eight from Asian States, three from Eastern European States, six from Latin American and Caribbean States, and eight from Western European and Other States –- shall be held by secret ballot. Those candidates, up to the maximum number prescribed for each group, obtaining the greatest number of votes (and at least a majority of the votes of the Member States present and voting) shall be elected.
Members of the Commission are eligible for re-election. A list of current members, whose terms expire at the end of 2001, is set out in the annex to the note.
Another note of the Secretary-General (document A/56/486 and Corr.1) gives a consolidated list of candidates nominated by the Governments of States Members of the United Nations.
The candidates are: Emmanuel Addo (Ghana), Nikolai Akuyev (Kazakhstan), Husain M. Al-Baharna (Bahrain), Ali Al-Marri (Qatar), João Baena Soares (Brazil), Ian Brownlie (United Kingdom), Enrique Candioti (Argentina), Choung Chee II (Republic of Korea), Pedro Comissario Afonso (Mozambique), Riad Daoudi (Syria), Ali Abdulrahman Dawi (Libya), Christopher Dugard (South Africa), Constantine P. Economides (Greece), Paula Escarameia (Portugal), Salifou Fomba (Mali), Giorgio Gaja (Italy), Zdzislaw W. Galicki (Poland), Raul Goco (Philippines), Xue Hanqin (China), Mauricio Herdocia Sacasa (Nicaragua), Fernando Hinestrosa (Colombia), Adegoke Ige (Nigeria), Peter C. R. Kabatsi (Uganda), Maurice Kamto (Cameroon), James L. Kateka (United Republic of Tanzania), Fathi Kemicha (Tunisia), Kriangsak Kittichaisaree (Thailand), Martti Koskenniemi (Finland), Valery I. Kuznetsov (Russian Federation), William Mansfield (New Zealand), Teodor Melescanu (Romania), Djamchid Momtaz (Iran), Bernd H. Niehaus (Costa Rica), Didier Opertti Badan (Uruguay), Guillaume Pambou-Tchivounda (Gabon), Alain Pellet (France), Pemmaraju Rao (India), Victor Rodríguez-Cedeño (Venezuela), Robert Rosenstock (United States), Bernardo Sepúlveda (Mexico), Bruno Simma (Germany), Surya P. Subedi (Nepal), Peter Tomka (Slovakia), Michel J. Tueni (Lebanon), Chusei Yamada (Japan).
The third note by the Secretary-General (documents A/56/124 and Add.1) lists the qualifications of the candidates.
Voting results
African States (9 Seats)
Number of ballots: 178
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 178
Number of abstentions: 2
Number of Members States voting: 176
Majority required: 89
Number of votes obtained:
Elected:
Dugard, Christopher John (South Africa) 159
Comissario Afonso, Pedro (Mozambique) 157
Addo, Emmanuel Akwei (Ghana) 154
Kateka, James L. (United Republic of Tanzania) 151
Ige, Adegoke Ajibola (Nigeria) 145
Pambou-Tchivounda, Guillaume (Gabon) 138
Kamto, Maurice (Cameroon) 137
Kemicha, Fathi (Tunisia) 132
Fomba, Salifou (Mali) 117
Not elected:
Kabatsi, Peter C. R. (Uganda) 111
Dawi, Ali Abdulrahman (Libya) 98
[As only nine members of the African group could be elected and all candidates had received the required majority of votes, the nine candidates having received the most votes were elected to the Commission. The nationals from Uganda and Libya were not elected.]
Asian States (8 Seats)
Number of ballots: 178
Number of invalid ballots: 1
Number of valid ballots: 177
Number of abstentions: 0
Number of Member States voting: 177
Majority required: 89
Number of votes obtained:
Candidates obtaining the required majority:
Yamada, Chusei (Japan) 139
Al-Marri, Ali Mohsen Fetais (Qatar) 133
Rao, Pemmaraju Sreenivasa (India) 133
Hanqin, Xue (China) 132
Chee, Choung II (Republic of Korea) 131
Al-Baharna, Husain M. (Bahrain) 120
Daoudi, Riad (Syria) 108
Kittichaisaree, Kriangsak (Thailand) 104
Momtaz, Djamchid (Iran) 104Not elected:
Goco, Raul Ilustre (Philippines) 74
Akuyev, Nikolai (Kazakhstan) 60
Subedi, Surya P. (Nepal) 60
Tueni, Michel J. (Lebanon) 53[As Kriangsak Kittichaisaree (Thailand) and Djamchid Momtaz (Iran) had obtained the same amount of votes, a new round of votes was required, restricted to the two candidates.]
Eastern European States (3 Seats)
Number of ballots: 178
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 178
Number of abstentions: 2
Number of Member States voting: 176
Majority required: 89
Number of votes obtained:
Elected:
Tomka, Peter (Slovakia) 159
Galicki, Zdzislaw W. (Poland) 137
Kuznetsov, Valery I. (Russian Federation) 131Not elected:
Melescanu, Teodor Viorel (Romania) 83
Latin American and Caribbean States (6 Seats)
Number of ballots: 178
Number of invalid ballots: 2
Number of valid ballots: 176
Abstentions: 1
Number of Members States voting: 175
Required majority: 88
Number of votes obtained:
Elected:
Baena Soares, Joao Clemente (Brazil) 157
Niehaus, Bernd (Costa Rica) 144
Candioti, Enrique (Argentina) 131
Sepulveda, Bernardo (Mexico) 130
Opertti Badan, Didier (Uruguay) 124
Rodriguez-Cedeño, Victor (Venezuela) 119
Not elected:
Hinestrosa, Fernando (Colombia) 111
Herdocia Sacasa, Mauricio (Nicaragua) 91
[As only six members of the Latin American and Caribbean States could be elected and all candidates had received the required majority of votes, the six candidates having received the most votes were elected to the Commission. The nationals from Colombia and Nicaragua were, therefore, not elected.]
Western European and Other States (8 Seats)
Number of ballots: 178
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 178
Number of abstentions: 0
Number of Member States voting: 178
Majority required: 90
Number of votes obtained:
Elected:
Simma, Bruno (Germany) 161
Escarameia, Paula (Portugal) 155
Mansfield, William (New Zealand) 154
Pellet, Alain (France) 154Brownlie, Ian (United Kingdom) 153
Koskenniemi, Martti (Finland) 153
Gaja, Giorgio (Italy) 152
Rosenstock, Robert (United States) 134Not elected:
Economides, Constantine P. (Greece) 125
[As only eight members of the Western European and Other States could be elected and all candidates had received the required majority of votes, the six candidates having received the most votes were elected to the Commission. The nationals from Colombia and Nicaragua were, therefore, not elected.]
Second round of voting for Asian States
Number of ballots: 174
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 174
Number of abstentions: 0
Number of Member States voting: 174
Required majority: 88
Number of votes obtained:
Elected:
Djamchid Momtaz (Iran) 89
Not elected:
Kriangsak Kittichaisaree (Thailand) 85
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