Plenary

The General Assembly met today to elect members of the International Law Commission, the United Nations organ tasked with the progressive development of international law and its codification.

The General Assembly, acting without a vote, today adopted a resolution that called upon all States not yet signed onto the Rome Statute ‑ the international treaty that created the International Criminal Court at a conference in Rome in 1998 ‑ to contemplate joining the 123 States parties that have already ratified the accord.

Delegates today stressed the importance of the International Criminal Court executing its mandate in an impartial manner, as the Court’s President updated the General Assembly on its caseload and judgements over the past year.

Delegates addressing the General Assembly today lauded concrete steps taken by the organ’s ad hoc working group on revitalization, stressing that a more streamlined Assembly is crucial to ensure the United Nations can help people grappling with the real-life impact of complex global challenges, from the COVID‑19 pandemic to the climate crisis and beyond.

Meeting concurrently with the Security Council, the General Assembly today elected one judge out of a pool of two candidates for the International Court of Justice in The Hague to serve a term beginning today, 5 November 2021, and ending 5 February 2024.

As the international community faces the most difficult challenges of the twenty-first century, Member States must collaborate and make use of the functions and mandates of the Economic and Social Council to tackle COVID‑19, its impacts and the climate crisis, the President of the Economic and Social Council told the General Assembly today.

While many Member States praised the Human Rights Council for its inclusivity and focus on human rights emergencies in Afghanistan, Myanmar and elsewhere, others accused it of being selective in its monitoring and condemnation, as the General Assembly took up the intergovernmental body’s annual report today.

The General Assembly today adopted a resolution emphasizing the need for adequate, predictable and sustainable funding of the United Nations resident coordinator system, following a day‑long debate on the work of the International Court of Justice, which marks its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2021.

The General Assembly today adopted a resolution that offers the global community a blueprint to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by tapping into the data, technology, innovative products and other tools gained through space exploration.

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, set up to continue the vital legal work of bringing to justice the perpetrators of atrocities committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, made significant progress over the past year, despite obstacles due to the global health crisis, its President said today as he briefed the General Assembly on developments during the residual courts’ fourth year of functioning.