CYIL 2012

THE INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION AT THE BEGINNING OF ITS NEW QUINQUENNIUM sixty-fourth session. 8 On some occasions, they also met in the Enlarged Bureau, including in particular the Special Rapporteurs and chairmen of Study Groups. The Commission set up a Planning Group under the chairmanship of Mr. B. Niehaus. The ILC also established a Drafting Committee which met this year only for two topics on which some draft articles were sent to it: (a) Expulsion of aliens and (b) Protection of persons in the event of disasters. During the first part of the session, the Commission also reconstituted two Study Groups: (a) Study Group on treaties over time (Chairman: Mr. G. Nolte) and (b) Study Group on Most-Favoured-Nation clause (Chairman: Mr. D. M. McRae). At its meeting on 22 May 2012, the Commission established the open-ended Working Group on the obligation to extradite or prosecute (aut dedere aut judicare) under the chairmanship of Mr. K. Kittichaisaree. In addition, some informal consultations took place during the first and the second part of the session, concerning a possible inclusion in the current programme of the ILC of two new topics from its long-term programme of work, namely the “Protection of the atmosphere”, proposed by Mr. S. Murase (coordinator Mr. Pavel Šturma), and “Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts”, proposed by Ms. M. G. Jacobsson (coordinator Mr. E. Candioti). However, the Commission was not able to decide on those issues until the end of its current session. It is likely that the debate will continue at the next session. During the first part of the session, the Commission had a limited number of plenary meetings, due to the lack of new reports for most topics. The ILC had before it namely the eighth report of the Special Rapporteur on the Expulsion of aliens. However, the most work was done in the Drafting Committee and the Study Groups. During the second part of the session, the Commission had much more diverse work. In addition to the fifth report of the Special Rapporteur on the Protection of persons in the event of disasters, the ILC was also able to discuss two other old topics Although the Commission adopted its agenda for its sixty-fourth session on 7 May 2012, it finalized its agenda during the second part of the session in view of the new topics included in its current programme. The first year of the new quinquennium was, quite logically, influenced by discussion on new topics. The newly appointed Special Rapporteurs were able to present only brief preliminary reports or just informal discussion papers. This is true for four topics on the updated programme of the Commission. Paradoxically, the most extensive documentation, yet in the form of informal papers, was available for two Study Groups, thanks to reports by Prof. Nolte and Prof. McRae. However, the Commission was able to 8 First Vice-Chairman: Mr. Bernd H. Niehaus (Costa Rica), Second Vice-Chairman: Mr. Hussein Hassouna (Egypt), Chairman of the Drafting Committee: Mr. Mahmoud Hmoud (Jordan), Rapporteur: Mr. Pavel Šturma (Czech Republic). and two new topics placed on the agenda. 4. The topics on the Agenda of the ILC

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