Special Committee on United Nations Charter Adopts Annual Report as It Concludes 2016 Session

Concluding its annual session today, the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening the Role of the Organization adopted its 2015 draft report and forwarded its recommendations to the General Assembly.

Presenting the draft report, Chair Janine Elizabeth Coye-Felson (Belize), in keeping with the Special Committee’s tradition, led delegations through a paragraph-by-paragraph reading of its contents.

The five-chapter report (documents A/AC.182/2016/L.1 to L.10) begins with an introduction covering the work of the body’s session, which began at Headquarters on 16 February.  Adopted as orally amended, the report highlights proposals submitted by delegations pertaining to the items on the Special Committee’s agenda:  maintenance of international peace and security; peaceful settlement of disputes; Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council; working methods; and identification of new subjects.

The Repertory is a legal publication which analyses the decisions of United Nations principal organs under each of the Articles of the United Nations Charter.  The Repertoire is a constitutional and procedural guide to the proceedings of the Security Council since 1946.

Included in chapter II are summaries of discussions on the implementation of the Charter provisions related to assistance to third States affected by sanctions; Libya’s revised proposal on strengthening the United Nations role in the maintenance of international peace and security; and Venezuela’s revised working paper titled “open-ended working group to study the proper implementation of the Charter of the United Nations with respect to the functional relationship of its organs”.

A revised working paper submitted by Belarus and the Russian Federation concerning a request from the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of States’ use of force without prior Council authorization was also included, as was a working paper by Cuba on strengthening the role of the Organization and enhancing its effectiveness.  The report also incorporates the Special Committee’s consideration of a working paper submitted by Ghana on strengthening the relationship and cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations or arrangements in the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Chapter III comprises a summary of discussions by the Special Committee on the proposal submitted by the Russian Federation on updating the Handbook on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes between States and establishing a website related thereto; and on the proposal submitted at the current session of the Special Committee by Iran, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, on pacific settlement of disputes and its impact on the maintenance of peace.

By a set of approved draft recommendations, to be included in chapter IV of the report, the Special Committee would have the Assembly note with appreciation the contributions made by Member States to trust funds for eliminating the backlog in the Repertory and for updating the Repertoire.  It would call upon the Secretary-General to continue his efforts towards updating the two publications, and to address on a priority basis a backlog in the preparation of volume III of the Repertory.

By another set of draft recommendations, to be included in chapter V, the Special Committee would have the Assembly mark the seventieth anniversary of the International Court of Justice by means of a commemorative draft resolution to be adopted at its seventy-first session.  It would commend the Court for its important role as the leading judicial organ of the United Nations, encourage States to continue to consider recourse to the Court and call upon States that had yet to do so to consider accepting the Court’s jurisdiction.

The Special Committee was established in 1975 to examine proposals to bolster the world body’s role in maintaining peace and security, to advance cooperation among nations and to promote international law.

The Special Committee will reconvene at a date and time to be announced.