Legal

United Nations officials and experts on mission who committed serious crimes tarnished the Organization’s credibility and must be held accountable, delegates told the Sixth Committee today as they took up the Secretary-General’s report on the matter.

The highlight of its summer session had been the adoption of the Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration, stated Michael Schöll, Chair of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, as the Sixth Committee took up the Commission’s report.

Concrete criteria were crucial to ensure fair and equitable geographic representation which would cement the credibility of the Security Council and the United Nations as a whole, said delegates in the Sixth Committee (Legal) as they began their general debate on the United Nations Charter and the role of the Organization.

The peaceful settlement of disputes was real and achievable when the rule of law in its truest sense had consistent and committed adherence at the international and national levels, said delegates in the Sixth Committee (Legal), as deliberations on the principle continued.

There could be no peaceful settlement of disputes without the observance of the rule of law at the international and national levels, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told the Sixth Committee as deliberations on the subject began.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its debate on measures to eliminate international terrorism, delegates insisted that all courses of action must remain within the framework of international law.

As the Sixth Committee began its consideration of measures to eliminate international terrorism, delegates once again called for flexibility and political will towards agreeing on a definition of that act, so that consensus could be reached towards a comprehensive convention.

Although agreement on a counter-terrorism convention still eluded delegates, their decision to meet again and continue discussions on outstanding issues offered hope for the future, said the Chair of the General Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on the issue today as he closed its week-long sixteenth session.

The time was “propitious” for the General Assembly committee charged with negotiating a comprehensive anti-terrorism convention to take the necessary decisions, especially on the outstanding issues that had — for years — hampered substantive progress on such an instrument, said its long-time Chairman, as he opened the sixteenth session today.

Adopting its 2013 draft report, the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening the Role of the Organization concluded its regular session today, forwarding its recommendations to the General Assembly.