Fifty-seventh General Assembly

Sixth Committee

1st Meeting (PM)

SIXTH COMMITTEE MEETS TO ORGANIZE WORK FOR FIFTY-SEVENTH SESSION;

ELECTS THREE VICE-CHAIRMEN, RAPPORTEUR

Following Meeting, Committee Reconvenes

As Working Group on Treaty Banning Reproductive Human Cloning

After the Sixth Committee (Legal) met this afternoon to organize its work for the session and elect its remaining officers, it reconvened as a working group to pursue the elaboration of a treaty banning the reproductive cloning of human beings.

Some of the other 17 items to be discussed this session are the International Criminal Court, measures to eliminate international terrorism and the reports of various legal bodies such as the International Law Commission and the Commission on International Trade Law.

The Committee, which is chaired by Arpad Prandler (Hungary) elected the following three Vice-Chairmen:  Shuichi Akamatsu (Japan), Augusto Cabrera (Peru), and Valentin Zellweger (Switzerland).  Karim Medrek (Morocco) was elected as Rapporteur.

In his opening statement, Mr. Prandler noted that the time-honoured contribution of the Sixth Committee to the progressive development of international law and its codification was well recognized.  Its work was particularly relevant now at a time when the primacy of international law in the conduct of international relations was reaffirmed and needed to be even further enhanced.

The Committee also re-elected Peter Tomka (Slovakia), who served as Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on an International Convention against the Reproductive Cloning of Human Beings, to continue as Chair of the Sixth Committee's working group that is pursuing work on the topic.

The Ad Hoc Committee on an International Convention against the Reproductive Cloning of Human Beings, first proposed by France and Germany, was established by the General Assembly in December 2001.  It held its first meeting in New York from 25 February to 1 March.  According to the report from that session (document A/57/51), reproductive cloning of human beings was a troubling and unethical development in biotechnology.  It raised moral, religious, ethical and scientific concerns and had far-reaching implications for human dignity.  The

Committee is in the preliminary process of identifying the legal issues that would be covered by the convention.

The Sixth Committee will meet next in plenary at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 26 September, to discuss measures to enhance the protection, security and safety of diplomatic and consular missions and representatives.

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