CYIL 2012

THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SIXTH COMMITTEE DURING THE 66 TH SESSION … 5. A Brief Overview of Other Items Like every year, the Sixth Committee discussed the Report of the ILC. 90 The first week in which this Report is discussed in the Sixth Committee (traditionally the last week of October) has been called the “International Law Week” since 2003 91 and during this week, most Legal Advisers from the Foreign Ministries of the UN Members States participate in the Sixth Committee meetings. The Report was introduced by the ILC Chairman, Mr. Maurice Kamto of Cameroon. The discussion is usually structured into clusters, each consisting of several chapters of the ILC Report. During the 66 th session of the GA, the States expressed their views on the following ILC topics: Responsibility of International Organizations, Effects of Armed Conflicts on Treaties, Expulsion of Aliens, Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Jurisdiction, The Obligation to Extradite or Prosecute (aut dedere aut judicare) , Treaties over Time, The Most-Favoured-Nation Clause and Long-term Programme of Work. The Sixth Committee decided to postpone the discussion on the Reservation to Treaties to the next session, as the Guide to Practice with its detailed commentaries – prepared by Prof. Alain Pellet, the Special Rapporteur – could not be translated to all UN official languages and published in time. The Czech Republic delivered two statements, one on the Responsibility of International Organizations and one on the Effects of Armed Conflicts on Treaties, Expulsion of Aliens and Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters. 92 With regard to the debate on the ILC Report in the Sixth Committee, there is an ongoing discussion among Legal Advisers of the UN Missions in New York on how it could be improved in the future. The way it is done now is that the representatives of States just read their lengthy statements, without any interactive exchange of views. Therefore, the only opportunity for them to have a real debate is within the Legal Advisers meeting during two afternoons. The topics of this meeting, however, do not always include the subjects contained in the ILC Report. The easiest solution would probably be to set a relatively strict time limit for oral statements, to publish the complete text of statements on a UN website and to dedicate more time for an interactive discussion. Unfortunately, because most of the States are conservative when it comes to the Sixth Committee’s methods of work, such revitalization of the debate on the ILC report is not realistic in the near future. The first two resolutions under this item, coordinated by the Thai Legal Advisor (and my Bureau colleague), took note of the Articles on Effects of Armed Conflicts on Treaties 93 and the Articles on Responsibility of International Organizations 94 and 90 Report of the ILC, Sixty-third session (26 April-3 June and 4 July-12 August 2011), UN Doc. A/66/10. 91 Resolution of the GA No. 58/77 of December 9, 2003, UN Doc. A/RES/58/77, operative para. 11. 92 The first statement was delivered by Mr. P. Šturma, Vice-Dean and Professor of the Charles University Law School in Prague, on October 24, 2011, and the second one by Mr. M. Dufek, Director of the International Law Department of the Czech MFA, on October 27, 2011.

93 Resolution of the GA No. 66/99 of December 9, 2011, UN Doc. A/RES/66/99. 94 Resolution of the GA No. 66/100 of December 9, 2011, UN Doc. A/RES/66/100.

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