Sixth Committee

The Sixth Committee met this morning to take up five requests for observer status in the work of the General Assembly, of which two had been deferred from the Committee’s sixty-sixth session.

The work of UNCITRAL was essential to upholding the rule of law and could only be realized when States put binding legal texts into action, Hrvoje Sikirić, Chairperson of the Commission’s forty-fifth session, told the Sixth Committee (Legal) as it considered the Commission’s report and concluded its debate on two additional items: criminal accountability of the Organization’s officials and experts on mission; and the administration of justice at the United Nations.

Arbitrary, unilateral sanctions infringed on development, violated human rights, defied the rule of law and harmed innocent people and States, delegates told the Sixth Committee (Legal), today, as it concluded its debate on the Special Committee on the Charter and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization and began consideration of criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission.

The rule of law could never be realized if States continued to threaten and disrupt the internal affairs of others, support extremists abroad, and apply unilateral sanctions, Syria’s delegate told the Sixth Committee (Legal) as it concluded its debate on the rule of law and began consideration of the Special Committee on the Charter and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization.

The United Nations had brought neutrality and global profundity to the progression of international law, which resulted in the first High-level Meeting on the subject and a declaration that exhibited the will of States, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told the Sixth Committee as it began its debate on the rule of law at the international and national levels.

A phenomenon that had grown in scope, sophistication and complexity, terrorism could only be combated through the eradication of its root causes, adherence to relevant instruments of international law and global and regional partnerships, delegates told the Sixth Committee (Legal) today as it concluded its debate on measures to eliminate terrorism.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) began consideration of measures to eliminate international terrorism, delegates, while condemning the association of terrorism with any specific religious, cultural or ethnic grouping, called for increased international cooperation to — once and for all — define terrorism and conclude a convention on the topic.

The General Assembly’s Sixth Committee (Legal) today elected Yuriy A. Sergeyev (Ukraine) as Chair for its sixty-seventh session.

Ending the current session of its work, the General Assembly’s Sixth Committee (Legal) approved ten draft resolutions today, including one which recommends observer status in the Assembly for the West African Economic and Monetary Union, an organization credited with fostering economic integration in its region.

The Sixth Committee (Legal) today ended its current discussion on the report of the Working Group on “measures to eliminate international terrorism”, and took action on five draft resolutions on different topics. Delegates reviewed procedural methods for the Committee’s work and criteria for consideration of future requests for observer status in the work of the General Assembly.