CYIL 2012

THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SIXTH COMMITTEE DURING THE 66 TH SESSION … mean, however, that the Sixth Committee should give up on its mandate and stop considering and adopting new international conventions, where appropriate. Looking at the ILC articles that the Sixth Committee will be considering in the next sessions, I believe that the form of a convention would be justified at least in relation to the following two sets of articles: first, in the case of the Articles on Effects of Armed Conflicts on Treaties, in order to guarantee the legal certainty in treaty relations among States (such a convention would complement the already existing Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties); and second, in the case of the Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers, 133 because water is quickly becoming a precious commodity, in particular in the volatile regions of the Middle East and Africa. Therefore, an international convention on this matter might help to prevent future wars over the management of water resources. The negotiations on the draft CCIT in the Sixth Committee during the 66 th session of the GA fall under the category of “business as usual”, as they ended – like in the previous sessions – in a deadlock. The “outstanding issues” connected with Article 3 (18) of the CCIT remain unresolved; as such, this session was a missed opportunity. It is clear that without the necessary will of States, no progress on the CCIT can ever be made. Lastly, the question of the scope and application of the principle of universal jurisdiction constitutes a non-traditional kind of item of the Sixth Committee that was included in its agenda as a result of an acute political crisis. While it is laudable that the States refer their contentious issues to multilateral legal bodies rather than engage in mutual political confrontation, the Sixth Committee may not always be the right forum. The ILC – as an independent expert body with limited political influence – might be a better place to address this issue.

133 For basic information on these Articles, see: R. M. Stephan, The Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers: The Process at the UN ILC, International Community Law Review 13 (2011), pp. 223-235.

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