CYIL vol. 14 (2023)

CYIL 14 (2023) ACTIVITIES OF THE SIXTH COMMITTEE OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY … Negotiations during the 77 th session of the General Assembly were particularly difficult, especially on some agenda items, as the Committee’s schedule was exceptionally full. The Committee held 36 plenary meetings in the autumn (and additional 9 plenary meetings in the spring of 2023) and it also met in a working group format. Informal consultations on draft resolutions mostly took place during the breaks between these meetings. In keeping with the tradition of the Sixth Committee, all resolutions were adopted without a vote, i.e., by consensus. Although consensus-based decision-making is a long standing practice and the Sixth Committee appears to remain committed to consensus as its working method, the possibility of voting was seriously considered when it came to the agenda item Crimes against humanity. While consensus is an ideal when it comes to the codification and progressive development of international law, in some cases, including the topic of crimes against humanity, it has led to undesirable inertia and lack of any progress in previous years. In the end, however, the Committee was able to reach a consensus on a draft resolution that represents some progress on the issue of crimes against humanity (see below). The breakthrough was only made possible by introducing a change in the Committee’s working methods when it came to negotiations during informal consultations. As will be further described below, the unorthodox way to push the resolution by country-led facilitation proved to be a game changer. During the debate and subsequent negotiations, the relationship between the Sixth Committee and the ILC and the way in which the Committee deals with the products of the ILC was repeatedly addressed. This was particularly the case during the debate on the Draft Articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, the Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts and the Draft Conclusions on Peremptory Norms of General International Law ( jus cogens ). The fourth week of the Committee’s session was traditionally devoted to the gathering of capital-based Legal Advisers of the respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the so-called International Law Week. During that week, the Sixth Committee discussed the report of the International Law Commission, focusing on topics such as Succession of States in respect of State responsibility 4 , Immunities of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, General principles of law, Sea-level rise in relation to international law, etc. The Legal Advisers of the respective Permanent Missions to the UN were also kept busy by the election campaign to fill the vacancy at the International Court of Justice that occurred following the passing away of Judge Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade. Candidates of Brazil and Argentina stood for election. In the election held on November 4, the Brazilian candidate Leonardo Nemer Caldeira Brant was elected Judge by both the Security Council and the General Assembly, defeating Marcelo Gustavo Kohen of Argentina. As the agenda of the Sixth Committee was quite extensive, this article focuses on only some of the agenda items considered during the 77 th session. In particular, it focuses on the process of consideration and negotiation under agenda items Crimes against humanity, Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts and Prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities and allocation of loss in the case of such harm.

4 A topic for which Professor Pavel Šturma, the Editor-in-chief of this Yearbook, was Special Rapporteur.

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