CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ THE WORK OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION AT THE BEGINNING … Last but not least, during the second part of the session of the ILC, the fifty-third session of the International Law Seminar took place at the Palais des Nations. A significant number of members of the Commission gave lectures on a large variety of topics. 3 The topics on the Agenda of the ILC In 2017, the Commission had fewer topics on the agenda than last year, which was due to two factors. First, some topics were completed at the end of the past quinquennium. Second, two topics, namely “Identification of customary international law” and “Subsequent agreements and subsequent practice in relation to the interpretation of treaties”, adopted on its first reading in 2016, are waiting for the second reading to take place in 2018. Nevertheless, the ILC was able to discuss the following topics: “Crimes against humanity”, “Provisional application of treaties”, “Protection of the atmosphere”, “Immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction”, “ Jus cogens ” and a newly included topic “Succession of States in respect of State responsibility”. The Commission successfully completed its debate and adopted, on first reading, draft articles with commentaries on Crimes against humanity. Other topics represent the work in progress, some of them are closer to a final product, while the others are still at the early stage of study by the ILC. Therefore this contribution will provide brief information on all topics on the programme of the Commission. 2.1 Crimes against humanity The Commission had before it the third, very long report of the Special Rapporteur Sean Murphy. 4 In his report, he addressed the following issues: extradition (chap. I), non-refoulement (chap. II), mutual legal assistance (chap. III), victims, witnesses and other affected persons (chap. IV), relationship to competent international criminal tribunals (chap. V), federal State obligations (chap. VI), monitoring mechanisms and dispute settlement (chap. VII), remaining issues (chap. VIII), the preamble to the draft articles (chap. IX), final clauses of a convention (chap. X), and the future programme of work on the topic (chap. XI). 5 The Special Rapporteur proposed seven draft articles (Arts. 11 to 17) on the issues covered in chapters I to VII and draft preamble. The Commission referred all draft articles as well as the draft preamble to the Drafting Committee. On the basis of the debate in plenary and in the Drafting Committee, it was decided to adopt draft article 5 ( non-refoulement ), draft article 12 (Victims, witnesses and others), draft article 13 (Extradition), draft article 14 (Mutual legal assistance) and draft article 15 (Settlement of disputes) and the Annex. The Commission included in the Annex many paragraphs that were presented by the Special Rapporteur in his draft article on Mutual legal assistance. However, the ILC did not adopt any draft articles on relationship to 3 The ILC Viewed from Inside (E. Valencia-Ospina), The ILC Viewed from Outside (P. Galvão Teles), Freedom of Expression in the Western Hemisphere (C. Grossman), Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries (Y. Cissé), The Principle of Universal Jurisdiction (Ch. Jalloh), Identification of Customary International Law (M. Wood), Protection of the Atmosphere (S. Murase), Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Jurisdiction (C. Escobar Hernández), Crimes Against Humanity (S. Murphy), Jus Cogens (D. Tladi), State Succession in Relation to State Responsibility (P. Šturma), and Provisional Application of Treaties (J.M. Gómez-Robledo). 4 See doc. A/CN.4/704 (2017). 5 See doc. A/CN.4/L.900 (2017), p. 2. 2.

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