General Assembly Elects Members to Trade Law Commission, Economic and Social Council, Fills Appointments for other Subsidiary Bodies

The General Assembly today elected 23 members to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and one member to the Economic and Social Council, while appointing members of the Committee on Conferences and the Joint Inspection Unit.

The following 23 countries were elected to UNICTRAL for six-year terms beginning 27 June 2016:  Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, India, Israel, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Mauritius, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United States, and Venezuela.

Of them, Chile, Lebanon and Romania were newly elected; the rest were re-elected.

General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft said six seats remained to be filled for the Group of African States and one seat for the Group of Asia-Pacific States.  The 193-member body would hold elections for those vacancies upon notification from interested Member States from those two regions.

The Assembly then turned to the appointment of members to the Committee on Conferences to replace members whose terms of office would expire on 31 December 2015, having before it a note by the Secretary-General on the matter (document A/70/107).

The Assembly President, acting on the recommendation of the Chair of the Group of the African States, announced his endorsement of Ghana and Liberia as members of that Committee for a period of three years, beginning on 1 January 2016.

One seat from the Asia-Pacific States, one seat from the Eastern European States, two seats from the Latin American and Caribbean States and one seat from the Western European and other States, beginning on 1 January 2016, remained vacant, and those Groups were urged to submit their candidatures as soon as possible.

The Assembly then turned to the appointment of one member of the Joint Inspection Unit to fill a vacancy arising from the expiration of the term of office on 31 December 2016 of Jorge Flores Callejas (Honduras), having before it a note by the Secretary-General on the topic (document A/70/106).

The Assembly President announced that in line with article 3, paragraph 1, of the Unit’s Statute and with resolution 61/238 of 22 December 2006, Honduras would be asked to submit the name of a candidate and his or her curriculum vitae highlighting relevant qualifications to the Assembly.  After suitable consultations with the President of the Economic and Social Council and the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chair of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), the Assembly President would submit the candidate’s name to the Assembly for appointment to the Unit.

Lastly, the Assembly, in a single secret ballot, elected Ireland to the Economic and Social Council, effective 1 January 2016 and expiring on 31 December 2017.  The Assembly had before it a letter from the Permanent Representative of Ireland, in his capacity as Chair of the Group of Western European and Other States on the matter (document A/70/426), which noted that Austria would relinquish its seat at the end of 2015 for the remaining term, in favour of Ireland.

Voting Results for Election to Economic and Social Council

The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 12 November, to take up the notification by the Secretary-General under Article 12, paragraph 2, of the Charter of the United Nations and the report of the Security Council.