CYIL vol. 13 (2022)

CYIL 13 ȍ2022Ȏ ACTIVITIES OF THE SIXTH COMMITTEE OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY … The last bilateral treaty registered under Article 102 of the UN Charter is the Agreement between the Government of the Czech Republic and the Government of the Republic of Poland on cooperation to address the impacts of exploitation at the Turów Open-Pit Lignite Mine in the Republic of Poland on the territory of the Czech Republic 49 .) The General Assembly also encouraged the Secretary-General to develop an online treaty registration system to facilitate the process and decided that the debate under this agenda item during its 78 th session should have subtopic “Best practices of depositaries of multilateral treaties”. Under the agenda item “Criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission”, the Sixth Committee held debate on criminal acts perpetrated by UN officials and experts. Delegations generally reiterated importance of ensuring accountability, especially in relation to sexual abuse and exploitation. Delegations traditionally exchange information on their domestic legislation enabling them to prosecute their nationals having committed crimes while serving under the auspices of the UN. During the 76 th session, some delegations expressed their support for elaboration of a convention on criminal accountability of UN officials and experts on missions. The resolution 50 under this agenda item was facilitated by the Legal Adviser of Pakistan. By its resolution 51 adopted upon the recommendation of the SixthCommittee, the General Assembly granted an observer status for the International Solar Alliance. Consideration of other requests for observer status pending before the Sixth Committee (8 requests in total 52 ) was postponed to the 77 th session of the General Assembly. Concluding remarks According to Article 13 subsection 1 paragraph a) of the UN Charter, it is the role of the General Assembly to “ initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of (…) encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification ”. To fulfill this mandate, the General Assembly established the Sixth Committee as one of its Main Committees (Rule 98 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly 53 ) and the International Law Commission as an independent expert body. The Sixth Committee, the ILC and States together form a “legislative machinery”, which over past decades was able to lead to a successful conclusion numerous codification projects. The result of negotiations on the topic of crimes against humanity during the 76 th session, however, clearly shows what was described by Petr Válek already in 2012: the “legislative machinery” has stopped running 54 . The fact is that the “machinery” did not only stop running when dealing with the topic of crimes against humanity. In fact, the last convention elaborated on the basis of an ILC

49 See: https://treaties.un.org/Pages/showDetails.aspx?objid=08000002805dfbaf&clang=_en. 50 Resolution No. A/RES/76/106 adopted by the General Assembly on December 9, 2021. 51 Resolution No. A/RES/76/123 adopted by the General Assembly on December 9, 2021.

52 Requests for observer status in the General Assembly for: (1) Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States, (2) Eurasian Economic Union, (3) Community of Democracies, (4) Ramsar Convention onWetlands Secretariat, (5) Global Environment Facility, (6) International Organization of Employers, (7) Trade Union Confederation and (8) Boao Forum for Asia. 53 UNdocument A/520/Rev.19 (available here: https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N20/253/19/ PDF/N2025319.-pdf?OpenElement). 54 VÁLEK, P., op. cit., p. 296.

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