CYIL vol. 14 (2023)

CYIL 14 (2023) THREE QUARTERS OF A CENTURY OF THE UN INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION… This successful codification activity of the Commission, belongs to the period when the contribution of the Commission to the development and codification of international law by its elaborated proposals for codification and progressive development of international law was indeed great and necessary. At the same time, this was the period marked by two important, though not sufficiently exposed facts in relation to the functioning and position of the Commission. First of all, the then existing great interest of States, regardless of the bloc division of the world and ideological conflict at the time, in the work of the Commission to codify and progressively develop the international law. It was the States that showed interest in the Commission’s work, especially in the 6 th Committee of the General Assembly. States followed the work of the Commission and used its results and proposals, they considered draft articles of the draft conventions or other drafts with the aim that these articles prepared by the Commission should through the codification process become drafts of international conventions and consequently via ratifications, binding international multilateral conventions. This was also the time when the members of the Commission, in spite of the bloc divisions of the world and in spite of the Cold War, were able to reach necessary consensus in the work of the Commission, which was then reflected in Commission’s drafts. This significantly contributed to the fact that drafts of several conventions were later ratified by a sufficient number of States and became important instruments of modern international law. This successful functioning of the Commission and the dialogue within it, also contributed to preservation of international peace in the dangerous times of the Cold War. The dialogue of top and highly respected international lawyers from both sides of the “iron curtain” was not interrupted in the Commission even during the most critical periods and crises and contributed to the preservation of peace. Continuous cooperation in the Commission even when the Cold War was at its peak, can today be understood as proof that on both sides of the “iron curtain” there was nevertheless a desire to preserve the international legal order and peace, based on international law. In the period before the end of the Cold War and also in the period after the symbolic fall of the Berlin Wall, the Commission prepared important drafts of future international conventions. Most of them, however, remained only drafts or because of insufficient number of ratifications did not enter into force. 16 The fact that these draft articles were not codified into force on November 6, 1996; (text see: UN Treaty Series, vol. 1946); The Commission also prepared draft articles for the Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of State Property, Archives and Debts (Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of State Property, Archives and Debts), which has not yet entered into force; The Commission also dealt with the succession of states in relation to the citizenship of natural persons without a successful conclusion and prepared draft articles (Articles on Nationality of Natural Persons in Relation to the Succession of States), which remained only a draft of the Commission (text of articles with comments see in Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1999, vol.II, Part Two). 16 Let us only mention the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness which entered into force on 13. 12. 1975 (text see UN Treaty series, vol. 989); Convention on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents), which entered into force on 20. 2. 1977 (text see UN Treaty Series, vol. 1035); or a series of draft conventions that, in addition to some of the previously mentioned remained in the drafts like Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or between International Organizations; or Articles on Diplomatic Protection; Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers; or Articles on the Effects of Armed Conflicts on Treaties; or the draft articles for Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters adopted by the Commission a couple of years ago (see GA res. 71/141 of 13. 12. 2016); or the draft Articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity (see A/CN.4/L.913).

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