As Seventy-First Session Concludes, Sixth Committee Upholds Tradition, Approving 12 Drafts without Vote
Holding to its long-standing tradition of approving texts without a vote, the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded the work of its seventy-first session today by taking action on 10 resolutions, one request for observer status and a draft decision on programme planning.
The draft texts addressed topics tackled by the Committee during its session, including, among others, the rule of law at the national and international levels; responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts; criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission; the report of the International Law Commission, including the protection of persons in the event of disasters; the law of transboundary aquifers; the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country; the report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization; and one draft decision on Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly.
The Sixth Committee also considered a revised draft resolution requesting observer status for the International Chamber of Commerce in the General Assembly, which had been initially proposed by the representative of France to the Committee on 11 October.
Re-introducing the revised draft, France’s delegate emphasized the importance of finding a solution that was acceptable to all. The final text, which recommended that the General Assembly confer observer status to the Chamber, also stipulated that granting such status would neither set a precedent nor change existing criteria for observer status.
In that regard, the representative of Venezuela stressed the importance of following established criteria for the granting of observer status while also pointing out that the draft resolution highlighted the exceptional nature of the Chamber of Commerce.
While echoing those sentiments, the representative of the Russian Federation emphasized that the request could not be used as a precedent. He urged delegations to continue to respect the General Assembly’s criteria for international organizations that wished to become observers.
The Committee also approved without a vote the draft resolution, “status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts”. By the terms of that text, the Assembly would, among other things, call upon all States parties to the Geneva Conventions that have not yet done so to consider becoming parties to the Additional Protocols at the earliest possible date.
Introducing the draft resolution, the representative of Sweden, also speaking for the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway, underscored the text’s focus on humanitarian law, as well as its aim to increase the acceptance of the Additional Protocols by States parties.
However, Sudan’s representative, while supporting consensus on the draft text, stressed his concern regarding about the paragraph on the Rome Statute which referred to the mandate of the International Criminal Court. He underscored that his country did not subscribe to the Rome Statute.
The representative of Canada introduced the draft resolution, “measures to eliminate international terrorism”. By the text, the General Assembly would call upon all Member States, the United Nations and other appropriate international, regional and sub-regional organizations to implement the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, as well as the resolutions relating to the first, second, third, fourth and fifth biennial reviews of the Strategy. However, Canada’s delegate noted that no new proposals had been made during negotiations.
Still, despite that fact, Danny Danon (Israel), Chair of the Sixth Committee underscored progress made on the draft comprehensive convention on terrorism, stating that delegations had reached important agreements. He urged that the international community take immediate steps to defeat Islamic State in Iraq/the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh). “Let us unite to eradicate these extremist elements before they succeed in destabilizing more States,” he emphasized.
Also speaking today were representatives of Lichtenstein, Brazil, Pakistan, Peru, Algeria, Slovakia, Zambia, Japan, Turkey, Cyprus and India.
Action on Draft Resolutions and Observer Status Requests
The representative of Lichtenstein introduced a draft resolution on the rule of law at the national and international levels (document A/C.6/71/L.27), by which the text would reaffirm the role of the General Assembly in encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification. The current text contained language reflecting discussion of the two subtopics of the seventy-first session’s debate, namely, on sharing national practices of States in the implementation of multilateral treaties as well as on practical measures to facilitate access to justice for all.
The Sixth Committee approved that text without a vote.
The representative of Brazil then introduced the draft resolution on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts (document A/C.6/71/L.28), which by the text would have the General Assembly continue to acknowledge the importance and usefulness of the articles and commend them once again to the attention of Governments. The draft resolution reflected a continued and informed dialogue on the future of the articles, while deferring consideration of the question of a convention or other appropriate action on the basis of the articles to a future session.
The draft resolution was then approved without a vote.
The representative of Pakistan introduced the draft text on criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission (document A/C.6/71/L.25). The text would have the General Assembly urge the Secretary-General to continue to ensure that his zero-tolerance policy for criminal activities, including sexual exploitation and abuse, fraud and corruption, was made known to all United Nations officials and experts on mission at all levels.
The draft resolution was approved without a vote.
The Sixth Committee then considered two resolutions on the report of the International Law Commission during its sixty-eight session.
The representative of Peru introduced the first draft resolution (document A/C.6/71/L.26), by which the text would have the General Assembly express its appreciation to the International Law Commission for the work accomplished at its sixty-eighth session. The text contained technical updates and also referred to holding the first part of the seventieth session of the Commission in New York.
The Sixth Committee approved it without a vote.
The representative of Algeria, speaking in explanation of position after action, said that holding the first part of the seventieth session of the commission in New York would facilitate exchange of ideas between Member States.
The representative of Slovakia then introduced the second draft resolution on protection of persons in the event of disasters (document A/C.6/71/L.31), saying that the text would have the General Assembly take note of the draft articles of the International Law Commission on that topic and invited Governments to submit their comments.
The draft resolution was then approved without a vote.
The representative of Sweden, also speaking for the Nordic Countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway) introduced the draft resolution on the status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts (document A/C.6/71/L.21). The terms of that text would have the General Assembly call upon all States parties to the Geneva Conventions that had not yet done so to consider becoming parties to the Additional Protocols at the earliest possible date. The draft stressed the importance of humanitarian law and aimed at increasing the acceptance of the additional protocols, while highlighting some of the recent developments in that field.
The representative of Sudan, speaking in explanation of position before action, expressed concerns about the paragraph on the Rome Statute which referred to the mandate of the International Criminal Court. He underscored that his country did not subscribe to the Rome Statute.
The Sixth Committee then approved the draft resolution without a vote.
The representative of Zambia then introduced the draft resolution on the report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization (document A/C.6/71/L.15), which by the text would have the General Assembly decide that the Special Committee should hold its next session from 21 February to 1 March 2017.
The draft resolution was approved without a vote.
The representative of Japan introduced the resolution on the law of transboundary aquifers (document A/C.6/71.L.22), which by the text would have the General Assembly commend to the attention of Governments the draft articles on the law of transboundary aquifers as guidance for bilateral or regional agreements and arrangements for the proper management of transboundary aquifers. The draft encouraged the International Hydrological Programme of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to continue its contribution by providing further scientific and technical assistance upon the consent of the recipient State and within its mandate.
The Sixth Committee approved the draft resolution without a vote.
The representative of Turkey, speaking in explanation of position after action, said that the provisions of the draft articles should have been elaborated in such a way that the multiplicity of interests of the riparian countries could be taken into account in a balanced and objective manner.
The representative of Canada then introduced the draft resolution on measures to eliminate international terrorism (A/C.6/71/L.24). The resolution would have the General Assembly call upon all Member States, the United Nations and other appropriate international, regional and sub-regional organizations to implement the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, as well as the resolutions relating to the first, second, third, fourth and fifth biennial reviews of the Strategy.
Although no new proposals had been made during negotiations, Canada’s representative highlighted operative paragraph 24 which recommended the establishment of a working group.
The draft resolution was approved without a vote.
The representative of Cyprus introduced the draft resolution on the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country (document A/C.6/71/L.29), which by the text would have the General Assembly request the host country to consider removing the remaining travel restrictions imposed on staff of certain missions and staff members of the Secretariat of certain nationalities. She pointed out that while the text was based on 2015’s resolution, paragraph 12 referred to the current report of the Committee.
The representative of France reintroduced the draft resolution requesting observer status for the International Chamber of Commerce in the General Assembly (document A/C.6/71/L.7). Highlighting the importance of finding a solution that was acceptable to all, he said that the final text stipulated that granting observer status to the Chamber would not set a precedent and the text would not change the criteria for observer status established earlier. The text also referred to the unique features of the Chamber as a representative of the business community.
The Sixth Committee then approved the draft resolution as revised without a vote.
The representative of Venezuela, speaking in explanation of position after action, recalled that General Assembly resolution 49/429, which set out the criteria for the granting of observer status. Nongovernmental organizations were to be accredited as observers to the Economic and Social Council. If the General Assembly did not follow established criteria, there would be no basis to distinguish between organizations that had the right to hold observer status and those that did not. A dramatic expansion in the number of such requests would weaken the General Assembly.
Nevertheless many organizations could play a positive role in the implementation of Agenda 2030, he said, adding that after extensive dialogue, the Sixth Committee had before it a draft resolution that distinguished the exceptional nature of granting the Chamber observer status. Noting the strict conditions for that granting, which did not set a precedent for other entities, he joined the consensus on that resolution which were characteristic of the Sixth committee. He encouraged the Chamber should join the consultations on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on reforming the system of international investment arbitration.
The representative of the Russian Federation, aligning himself with Venezuela, underscored that the Sixth Committee’s decision regarding the Chamber could not be used as a precedent. He urged delegations to continue to respect the General Assembly’s criteria for international organizations that wished to become observers.
The Sixth Committee then took up the draft decision on revitalization of the work of the General Assembly (document A/C.6/71/L.30) which was then approved by the Committee without a vote. The text would recommend that the General Assembly approve the provisional programme of work of the Sixth committee for 2017, indicating the dates on which the respective debates on the plenary would take place.
Programme Planning and Procedural Matters
The Sixth Committee Chair noted that there were currently no reports under the item, after which the Committee decided to conclude consideration of it.
Turning to the item on the election of officers of the Main Committees, the Chair said that in accordance with the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, all Main Committees should elect a chair at least three months before the opening of the session.
He noted that the Committee would meet one more time during the present Assembly session, approximately in June 2017 to elect the Bureau for the seventy-second session. Regional groups should hold consultations to ensure that the Committee would be in a position to elect its next Chair, three Vice-Chairs and a Rapporteur
Acknowledging the progress made by the Sixth Committee on many important topics, he also said that delegates had reached important agreements in working towards the comprehensive convention on international terrorism. More work remained, and it was the responsibility of the international community to come together and take immediate steps so that Islamic State in Iraq/the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) could be defeated. “Let us unite to eradicate these extremist elements before they succeed in destabilizing more States,” he urged the Sixth Committee delegations.
The representative of India then thanked the Chair and all his colleagues for taking part in the twenty-seventh meeting of legal advisors which his delegation had coordinated.