THIRTY-NINTH SESSION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW SEMINAR OPENS IN GENEVA

THIRTY-NINTH SESSION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW SEMINAR OPENS IN GENEVA

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 3 July (UN Information Service) -- The thirty-ninth session of the International Law Seminar, which has been organized on the basis of General Assembly resolutions every year since 1965 by the United Nations Office at Geneva on the occasion of the annual session of the International Law Commission, will take place at the Palais des Nations from 7 to 25 July 2003.

The Seminar is intended for post-graduate students and young university lecturers specializing in international law, junior government officials and jurists concerned with questions of international law in order to familiarize them with the work of the International Law Commission as well as with the codification and development of international law.  It also serves as a forum for an exchange of views among jurists representing different legal systems on the agenda topic under consideration by the Commission and on international law in general, as well as on the various activities of the United Nations and other international organizations based in Geneva.

Finally, the Seminar provides the participants with the opportunity of meeting with the members of the Commission and of benefiting from their experience as specialists in international law.

As has become yearly practice, members of the Commission have demonstrated their support for the Seminar by giving most of the lectures, although some lecturers will be staff members of the United Nations, specialized agencies and other intergovernmental organizations.

Each lecture will be followed by a discussion.  The topics are mainly selected among those which have been examined or are currently under study by the Commission and other organs of the United Nations and the specialized agencies in charge of legal questions.

During the three-week session, the participants will also assist at the meetings of the Commission and study some subjects in small groups.  They will have access to the facilities of the United Nations Library in Geneva.

At the end of the Seminar, the participants will be awarded a diploma certifying his or her participation.

Participation in the Seminar is limited to 24.  Several fellowships have been awarded through the generosity of certain governments.  Since 1965, fellowships have been awarded to 523 participants out of 879 persons who have participated in the Seminar from 154 countries.

The Seminar is open to nationals of all Member States of the United Nations and States who are members of the specialized agencies and is held at no extra cost to the United Nations.

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