WORK TO CONTINUE TOWARDS CONVENTION AGAINST HUMAN CLONING; CONCERN EXPRESSED AT LACK OF TEMPORARY MORATORIUM

Fifty-seventh General Assembly

Sixth Committee

28^th Meeting (AM)

WORK TO CONTINUE TOWARDS CONVENTION AGAINST HUMAN CLONING;

CONCERN EXPRESSED AT LACK OF TEMPORARY MORATORIUM

In other Action, Legal Committee - Ending Current Session – Approves

Texts on International Terrorism, Host Country Relations, Law Commission Report

The General Assembly’s Sixth Committee (Legal) this morning approved four draft texts, including a draft decision on an international convention against human reproductive cloning, without a vote, as the Committee concluded its work for the current session.

By the draft on an international convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings, the Assembly would decide that a working group of the Sixth Committee be convened from 29 September to 3 October 2003 during its next session.  The Group would continue the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on the subject of human cloning, begun this year.

Speaking for the two originators of the call for a convention on reproductive human cloning (France and Germany), the representative of Germany, said the decision today had put the issue of human cloning on the General Assembly’s agenda.  He regretted that a compromise had not been reached on reproductive human cloning, leaving the field wide open for those who wanted to pursue it.

Responding, the representative of Costa Rica said the decision was purely procedural.  However, the wording of the text left all kinds of human cloning still on the table.  Mexico’s representative said he would have liked the resolution to include a moratorium on human reproductive cloning until the convention was adopted.  The representative of the Republic of Korea announced that an intersessional meeting on the subject, which his country had offered to host, would now take place in late spring 2004.

Statements on the draft text were also made by the representatives of Sudan, Spain, San Marino and Ethiopia.

On a draft resolution concerning measures to eliminate international terrorism, the Assembly decided that its Ad Hoc Committee on terrorism should meet in March 2003 to continue its elaboration of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism as a matter of urgency.  It would also continue work on the convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism.

In explanation of his position, Pakistan’s representative said he had joined the consensus on the resolution, but he did not favour expanding the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the Centre for International Crime Prevention in Vienna.

By another draft resolution, the Assembly would take note of the host country (United States) to maintain appropriate conditions for the functioning of delegations and missions to the United Nations.  The Assembly would also note that travel restrictions imposed by the host country on staff of certain missions remained in effect.  It would request the host country to consider removing them.

A draft resolution on the report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-fourth session would have the Assembly decide that the Commission’s 2003 session be held at the United Nations Office in Geneva from 5 May to 6 June and from 7 July to 8 August.  It would draw the attention of governments to the importance of the Commission having their views on topics on its agenda, including their practice on “Unilateral acts of States” and “Diplomatic protection”.

On other matters and in accordance with a General Assembly resolution of last year, the Committee decided to hold consultations among its regional groups at least three months before the opening of the next Assembly session to elect its Chairman.  By that resolution, the elections of the three Vice-Chairmen and the rapporteur should be held at the latest by the end of the first week of the session.

In a concluding statement, Arpad Prandler (Hungary), Chairman of the Sixth Committee, praised the constructive atmosphere that prevailed during the session, enabling the Committee to approve all its draft resolutions and draft decisions without a vote.  He also noted the spirit of cooperation and understanding that traditionally characterized the work of the Committee.

Also, he read from a letter to be sent to the President of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), concerning the proposed transfer of the Sixth Committee’s technical secretariat from the Office of Legal Affairs to the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management.

Representatives of the various regional groups commended the Chairman, other members of the bureau and the Office of Legal Affairs and the Codification Division for their cooperation in the successful conclusion of the Committee’s work for the current session.

Background

The Sixth Committee (Legal) met today to consider and take action on a number of draft resolutions.  The Committee was also expected to be informed on the election of the officers of the General Assembly’s main committees for the fifty-eighth Session in 2003.

Drafts

By a draft resolution to be introduced on the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country (document A/C.6/57/L.25), the General Assembly would take note of the United Nations Legal Counsel’s opinion concerning the parking programme for diplomatic vehicles and the requests by delegations to defer implementation of the programme.  It would also take note of the host country’s commitment to maintain appropriate conditions for the functioning of delegations and missions.  It would note that travel controls imposed by the host country on staff of certain missions remained in effect, and it would request the host country to consider removing them.  Finally, the Assembly would also note that the Committee anticipated that the host country would ensure the issuance of entry visas to representatives of Member States in a timely manner.

By a draft on the report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-fourth session (document A/C.6/57/L.27), the Assembly would decide that the Commission’s 2003 session shall be held at the United Nations Office in Geneva from 5 May to 6 June and from 7 July to 8 August.

By the text, the General Assembly would draw the attention of governments to the importance of the Commission receiving their views on the various aspects of the topics on the Commission’s agenda, particularly on all the specific issues identified in chapter III of its current report.  The Assembly would also reiterate its invitation to governments to provide information to the Commission on State Practice on the topic “unilateral acts of States”.

Furthermore, the Assembly would reiterate its invitation to governments to submit the most relevant national legislation, decisions of domestic courts and State practice relevant to diplomatic protection, to assist the Commission in its work on the subject.

By other terms of the draft, the Assembly would recommend that the Commission, taking into account the comments and observations of governments, whether in writing or expressed orally in debates in the General Assembly, continue its work on the topics in its current programme.  The Commission would be invited to continue taking measures to enhance its efficiency and productivity.

The Assembly would stress the desirability of further enhancement of the dialogue between the International Law Commission and the Sixth Committee, and would also encourage the holding of informal discussions between the members of the two bodies attending the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly next year.  The Assembly would recommend that the Sixth Committee debate on the Commission’s report on the work of its fifty-fifth session should begin on       27 October 2003.

By a draft decision on an international convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings (document A/C.6/57/L.24), the Assembly would welcome the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on the matter.  It would also decide that a working group of the Sixth Committee would be convened from 29 September to 3 October  2003, during the next session of the General Assembly, to continue the work that had begun this year.

A draft on measures to eliminate international terrorism (document A/C.6/57/L.22) was expected to be introduced.  By its terms, the Assembly would urge States to consider, as a priority, becoming parties to the relevant conventions and protocols dealing with aspects of terrorism.  It would urge them to cooperate at every level in ensuring that technical and other expert advice was provided to those States that requested assistance in becoming parties to the above conventions and protocols.

It would urge States and the Secretary-General to make use of existing institutions of the United Nations in efforts to prevent terrorism, and would decide that the Ad Hoc Committee on the subject should continue to elaborate a comprehensive convention on international terrorism as a matter of urgency.  The Ad Hoc Committee would also continue elaborating a draft international convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism and would keep on its agenda the convening of a high-level conference under the auspices of the United Nations, to formulate a joint international response to terrorism.  Finally, it would decide that the Ad Hoc Committee would meet in March 2003 to continue its work.

Action on Drafts

The Committee took up the draft resolution on the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country (document A/C.6/57/L.25), which had been introduced by Cyprus.

The draft was approved without a vote.

On behalf of the Bureau, the representative of Peru then introduced a draft resolution the report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-fourth session (document A/C.6/57/L.27).

The Committee waived the requirement of 24 hours between the introduction of a draft text and action upon it and approved the resolution without a vote.

Speaking in explanation after the action, the representative of the United States made a statement clarifying his country’s position on cooperation between the Commission and other international legal bodies.

The Committee next took up a draft decision on the International Convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings (document A/C.6/57/L.24).  It had been introduced by the Bureau.

The Chairman, ARPAD PRANDLER (Hungary) said the Committee had decided by consensus that the text would stand as it was.  No other text would be circulated during the session.

The Sudan’s representative made a statement of clarification on the Arabic text.

The decision was approved without a vote.

Speaking in explanation after action, Mexico’s representative said he would have liked the resolution to include a moratorium on human reproductive cloning until the convention was adopted.

The representative of the Republic of Korea said his country had offered to hold an inter-sessional meeting on the matter in spring 2003.  However, the Ad Hoc Committee would now be meeting in 2004.  His country would hold the inter-sessional meeting in late spring 2004.

The representative of Germany, speaking also on behalf of France, said the Committee’s decision put the issue of cloning on the General Assembly’s agenda.  The Committee would take it up from 29 September to 3 October, during the next Assembly session.  It was regrettable that a compromise had not been reached on the reproductive cloning of human beings, so that work could have gone forward on other forms of cloning.  That left the field open to those who wanted to go forward with the reproductive cloning of humans.  He asked all to refrain from actions supportive of reproductive human cloning.

Responding, the representative of Costa Rica said the decision had been adopted as a purely procedural matter.  The wording, however, left all kinds of cloning still on the table.

Spain’s representative said the work of the Office of Legal Affairs had helped to avoid a vote on the issue.  A formal compromise solution was reflected in the wording.  He had supported the draft that had called for a ban on all human cloning but that had been withdrawn.  His agreement to the draft had to be viewed in the context of his desire for consensus.

The representatives of San Marino and of Ethiopia thanked the Bureau for the procedural decision.  They said a vote would have represented a great obstacle on future considerations of the critically important matter.  The two sides should continue to negotiate and come together in the broader context.

Finally, the Committee took up a draft resolution on measures to eliminate international terrorism (document A/C.6/57/L.22), which had been introduced by Canada on behalf of the Bureau.

VACLAV MIKULKA, Director of the Codification Division of the Office of Legal Affairs, read out the programme budget implications.  He said the Ad Hoc Committee on the matter would meet from 31 March to 2 April, for a total of six meetings with interpretation in six languages.  The conference servicing requirements were estimated at $126,410.  Provision had been made for such conference services in the proposed programme budget for the 2002-2003 biennium.  Should the Assembly adopt the resolution, there were no programme budget implications.

Pakistan’s representative said he did not favour the expansion of the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the Center for International Crime Prevention in Vienna.

The draft resolution, as orally revised by Canada’s representative on its introduction, was approved without a vote.

Election of Officers

Mr. PRANDLER, Committee Chairman, noted that the Assembly, at its last session, had changed the rules of electing chairpersons of the main committees, allowing for their elections at least three months before the opening of the next Assembly session.  In view of that, he suggested that consultations be held among regional groups so that the Committee would be in a position to elect its chairperson at the appropriate time; but at least three months before the Assembly session.

Transfer of Technical-Servicing Secretariat

Following up on the proposed transfer of the Committee’s technical secretariat from the Office of Legal Affairs to the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management, Mr. PRANDLER reviewed the matter.  He recalled that he had written a letter asking the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) to suspend consideration of the item until the Sixth Committee had considered it.  Since then, a letter had been written to inform the Fifth Committee of the deliberations that had taken place in the Sixth Committee on Tuesday, 5 November.

He read from the letter, which indicated that delegations had expressed their appreciation for the presence of the members of the conference management department.  The letter said delegations had raised a number of detailed questions that concerned the level of expertise required for the Legal Committee and the benefits that would come from the transfer, the need for which had been questioned by delegations.  Concern had also been expressed over the negative impact delegates the transfer would have on the Committee’s ability to perform its functions, particularly in such areas as codification of international law.  They had asked if cost savings would really be achieved, or whether more costs might actually be incurred.

Closing of Session

As the Committee closed its work for the session, there were expressions of appreciation for the work of the Chairman, the Bureau and the Office of Legal Affairs.  The representative of Uruguay spoke on behalf of the Latin American Group and Caribbean Community (CARICOM); Indonesia’s representative spoke on behalf of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries; Ethiopia’s representative spoke for the Committee’s African Group members; and the representative of San Marino spoke on behalf of the Western European and Others Group.

Mr. PRANDLER, the Chairman, thanked members for the spirit of cooperation that had marked the Committee’s work, enabling it to reach consensus on highly sensitive issues.  He singled out Mr. Mikulka and Ms. Mahnoush Arsanjani, Deputy Director of the Legal Office’s Codification Division, for special thanks.

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