Positive developments in the formal and informal systems for resolving workplace disputes within the Organization over the past year must be joined by further improvements, speakers stressed as the Sixth Committee (Legal) today considered the administration of justice at the United Nations.
Speakers underscored the importance of upholding the Organization’s reputation by ensuring United Nations officials and experts are held accountable for crimes committed when on mission, while also highlighting the need for predeployment training and victim-centred approaches, as the Sixth Committee (Legal) took up the Secretary-General’s reports on the matter.
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded today its debate on the protection of persons in the event of disasters, speakers emphasized that no nation can meet the challenges caused by natural hazards alone, underscoring the importance of external assistance in humanitarian relief and calling for a development of a new treaty based on the International Law Commission’s draft articles.
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) today began consideration of the International Law Commission’s draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters, speakers diverged over whether that product appropriately balanced the need to protect the rights of those affected by a disaster against those of the State in which it occurred, and if an international legal framework should be elaborated based on those texts.
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its debate on measures to eliminate international terrorism today, delegates detailed national, regional and worldwide efforts to combat the constantly evolving scourge in the absence of both an internationally agreed-upon definition and a comprehensive convention.
Convening its first meeting of the seventy-eighth session today, the Sixth Committee (Legal) took up the Secretary-General’s report on measures to eliminate international terrorism, with delegates investigating the scourge’s emerging trends and underscoring both the importance of agreeing on a legal definition and developing a comprehensive convention on combating the menace.
The Sixth Committee (Legal) elected Suriya Chindawongse (Thailand) Chair on 1 June.
Concluding its resumed session today debating on whether to codify the International Law Commission’s draft articles on crimes against humanity into a convention, the Sixth Committee (Legal) heard oral reports from co-facilitators on the draft articles’ five Thematic Clusters, as speakers emphasized the need to end such crimes, with some expressing readiness to negotiate a new international instrument.
Recommendations by the International Law Commission are not binding and accepting them is “entirely in the hands of Member States”, a United Nations senior principal legal officer told the Sixth Committee (Legal) today during its resumed session, as he briefed delegates on the Commission’s procedure with the General Assembly and its process in drafting the articles on prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its resumed session today to consider the International Law Commission’s recommendation to codify a convention on crimes against humanity, speakers deliberated over two clusters of draft articles addressing measures States should take on national platforms regarding those crimes, while also exploring the methods of international cooperation between countries when considering extradition of alleged offenders.
