Sixth Committee (Legal) — 70th session

Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization (Agenda item 84)

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Documentation

Summary of work

Background (source: A/70/100)

The item entitled “Need to consider suggestions regarding the review of the Charter of the United Nations” was included in the agenda of the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly, in 1969, at the request of Colombia (A/7659).

The item entitled “Strengthening of the role of the United Nations with regard to the maintenance and consolidation of international peace and security, the development of cooperation among all nations and the promotion of the rules of international law in relations between States” was included in the agenda of the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly, at the request of Romania (A/8792).

At its twenty-ninth session, the General Assembly decided to establish an Ad Hoc Committee on the Charter of the United Nations to consider any specific proposals that Governments might make with a view to enhancing the ability of the United Nations to achieve its purposes, as well as other suggestions for the more effective functioning of the United Nations that might not require amendments to the Charter (resolution 3349 (XXIX)).

At its thirtieth session, the General Assembly decided to reconvene the Ad Hoc Committee as the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization to examine suggestions and proposals regarding the Charter and the strengthening of the role of the United Nations with regard to the maintenance and consolidation of international peace and security, the development of cooperation among all nations and the promotion of the rules of international law (resolution 3499 (XXX)).

Since its thirtieth session, the General Assembly has considered the report of the Special Committee every year (resolutions 31/28, 32/45, 33/94, 34/147, 35/164, 36/123, 37/114, 38/141, 39/88, 40/78, 41/83, 42/157, 43/170, 44/37, 45/44, 46/58, 47/38, 48/36, 49/58, 50/52, 51/209, 52/161, 53/106, 54/106, 55/156, 56/86, 57/24, 58/248, 59/44, 60/23, 61/38, 62/69, 63/127, 64/115, 65/31, 66/101, 67/96 and 68/115).

At its sixty-ninth session, the General Assembly requested the Special Committee, at its session in 2015, to continue its consideration of all proposals concerning the question of the maintenance of international peace and security in all its aspects in order to strengthen the role of the United Nations, to continue to consider, in an appropriate substantive manner and framework, including the frequency of its consideration, the question of the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter, based on all of the related reports of the Secretary-General and the proposals submitted on the question, and to continue to consider, on a priority basis, ways and means of improving its working methods and enhancing its efficiency with a view to identifying widely acceptable measures for future implementation. The Assembly invited the Special Committee to consider the question of an appropriate commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the Charter. It requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at its seventieth session a report on both the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council and a report on the implementation of the provisions of the Charter related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions (resolution 69/122).

The Special Committee met at United Nations Headquarters from 17 to 25 February 2015.

Consideration at the seventieth session

The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 14th, 15th, 26th and 28th meetings, on 22 and 23 October as well as 11 and 16 November 2015 (see A/C.6/70/SR.14, 15, 26 and 28).

The Chair of the 2015 session of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization introduced the report of the Special Committee (A/70/33).

The Director of the Codification Division, Office of Legal Affairs, made a statement on the status of the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs. The Chief of the Security Council Practices and Charter Research Branch, Department of Political Affairs, made a statement on the status of the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council.

Statements were made by the representatives of Ecuador [in English] (on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)), the Islamic Republic of Iran (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)), South Africa (on behalf of the African Group), the European Union, also on behalf of its member States (the candidate countries the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, the country of the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well the European Free Trade Association country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area, which aligned themselves with the statement), Peru, Cuba, Belarus, the Sudan, Qatar, Nicaragua, Ghana, India, Algeria, Thailand, Libya, Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic, El Salvador, the United States of America, China [in English], the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tunisia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Russian Federation and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The representatives of the Republic of Korea and of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea spoke in exercise of the right of reply.

In their general comments, delegations highlighted the importance of the functions of the Special Committee and underlined the need to revitalize its work, stressing that it played an irreplaceable role in upholding the authority of the Charter of the United Nations and promoting the peaceful settlement of international disputes.

Some delegations further considered that the Special Committee should play a key role in the current reform process as mandated in General Assembly resolution 3499 (XXX) of 15 December 1975, and underlined the need for the Security Council to be more representative and transparent. The need for the principal organs of the United Nations to respect each other’s functions and powers and the importance of strengthening the role of the General Assembly, as well as of avoiding encroachment from the Security Council on the work of that organ and that of the Economic and Social Council were also underlined by a number of delegations.

In the context of the maintenance of international peace and security, several delegations expressed concerns with regard to sanctions imposed by the Security Council. They pointed out that sanctions should be implemented in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations and used as a last resort. They also stressed the need to minimize the adverse humanitarian effects of sanctions. Some delegations noted that the objectives of sanctions regimes should be clearly defined, based on tenable legal grounds, imposed for a specified time frame, with the clearly specified conditions for the imposition of sanctions and subject to periodic review. A number of delegations welcomed the briefing given by the Secretariat on the document “Introduction and implementation of sanctions imposed by the United Nations” annexed to General Assembly resolution 64/115 of 16 December 2009, and requested that the briefing be held on a regular basis.

With regard to the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations relating to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions under Chapter VII, several delegations pointed out that it was necessary to continue considering the topic. The need was stressed for the Security Council to focus on the issue and to ensure an adequate assistance to third States giving consideration to humanitarian aspects. It was stated that third States should be compensated for damages inflicted upon them by sanctions and stressed that the negative impact of sanctions on third States needed to be minimized. Some delegations reiterated their view that the topic had to be removed from the agenda of the Special Committee since the application of targeted sanctions in recent years had already minimized the possibility of adverse consequences for the civilian population.  It was proposed, as an alternative, that the item could be considered every three years, except in those cases when some affected third States appealed for assistance, whereupon the Special Committee would consider the item at its next session. There could also be a Secretariat briefing on the issue in lieu of a written report.

Several delegations encouraged further discussions of the different proposals before the Special Committee, including the revised proposal by Libya with a view to strengthening the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security, the further revised working paper submitted by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela entitled “Open-ended working group to study the proper implementation of the Charter of the United Nations with respect to the functional relationship of its organs”, and the working paper introduced by Cuba on the strengthening of the role of the Organization and enhancing its effectiveness. Some delegations reiterated the need to review the usefulness and continued relevance of those proposals.

Several delegations restated their continuing interest in the proposal put forward by Belarus and the Russian Federation that an advisory opinion be requested from the International Court of Justice as to the legal consequences of the resort to the use of force by States without prior authorization by the Security Council, except in the exercise of the right to self-defence.  Other delegations did not see the need for such proposal and did not support its consideration.

A number of delegations welcomed the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations.  Several delegations expressed regret that the Special Committee did not reach consensus on the document entitled “Full validity of the Charter of the United Nations on its seventieth anniversary” (A/AC.182/L.139) submitted by Cuba.

On the topic of the peaceful settlement of disputes, delegations underlined the importance of the obligation to settle disputes by peaceful means and recalled that the Charter of the United Nations provided the basic framework for such obligation. Some delegations recalled the Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, while a number of delegations stressed the critical role of the International Court of Justice in the peaceful settlement of disputes, including through its advisory opinions.

The proposal entitled “Pacific Settlement of Disputes and its impact on the maintenance of peace”, submitted by Iran (NAM) in 2015, was supported by a number of delegations. Support was also expressed by various delegations for the concept paper entitled “Strengthening the relationship and cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations or arrangements in the peaceful settlement of disputes”, submitted by Ghana in 2015. The sponsor delegation emphasized that there was a need for clear mechanisms and actions to effectively deal with the gaps and challenges encountered in the relationship between the United Nations and regional organizations/arrangements in the maintenance of international peace and security. It was also recalled that the sponsor delegation had informed the Special Committee that it would submit a revised proposal for its 2016 session, with a view to inviting delegations to provide related suggestions and comments. While it was recalled that the matter was already dealt with in several other fora and that the Special Committee should not duplicate or prejudge the outcome of those discussions, the view was expressed that the concept paper could be considered if it allowed for the filling of gaps or had otherwise added value.

Some delegations supported the update of the Handbook on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes between States and the establishment of a United Nations website dedicated to this issue, as proposed by the Russian Federation. Other delegations reiterated that they remained unconvinced of the added value of such efforts.

On the issue of the identification of new subjects, some delegations indicated their intention to fruitfully work on the question of the adoption of new topics.  While support was expressed for the deliberation of relevant and feasible new agenda items, it was reaffirmed that any items discussed by the Special Committee should stay within the purview of its mandate. It was suggested that, while the Special Committee should examine the legal aspects of any topic, the Special Committee ought to avoid the duplication of work of other United Nations bodies and Committees.  Other delegations once again urged caution in adding new items, and pointed out that any proposals should be practical, non-political and not duplicative.

Several delegations emphasized that the work of the Special Committee could and should be enhanced through the optimization of the working methods of the Special Committee. Some delegations also underlined the importance of establishing a solid thematic agenda, based on newly identified subjects and on the study of its current subjects, while others deplored the fact that progress on substantive proposals was being prevented.

The need to adopt a realistic timeline for the work of the Special Committee, in order to give delegations sufficient time to examine proposals and engage in deliberations, was stressed.  Some delegations emphasized the need to maintain the amount of time allocated to discussions. Other delegations urged the implementation of the proposals made in 2006 on the working methods of the Special Committee. They suggested reviewing the list of items on the agenda, taking into account, inter alia, their continued relevance, the likelihood of reaching consensus within the Special Committee, and overlap with proposals addressed elsewhere in the United Nations. Those delegations again supported examining the frequency and duration of the sessions of the Special Committee.

A number of delegations reemphasized the need for political will in order to advance long-standing issues on the Special Committee’s agenda, and for all delegations to substantively engage in discussions on the Special Committee’s agenda. Willingness was expressed to examine the matter of consensus within the Special Committee, while it was also underlined that the Special Committee should focus on procedural over substantive matters.

It was suggested that the appointment of the members of the Bureau three months prior to the annual session could help revive the Special Committee.  Another proposal focused on methods that could improve the effectiveness of the Special Committee, including the process of identifying new subjects and assessing the actual content of current proposals.

Several delegations welcomed the progress made by the Secretariat in the preparation of the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council, in particular the efforts undertaken by the Secretariat in order to reduce the backlog of those publications including making them available on the Internet.   Some delegations called for further efforts to eliminate the Repertory backlog. The need to make the publications available in all official languages of the Organization was emphasized.  It was also stated that the established rules of the compilation should be upheld in preparing the Repertoire.

Action taken by the Sixth Committee

At the 26th meeting, on 11 November, the representative of Egypt, on behalf of the Bureau, introduced a draft resolution entitled “Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization” (A/C.6/70/L.11). At the 28th meeting, on 16 November, the Committee adopted draft resolution A/C.6/70/L.11 without a vote.

By the terms of draft resolution A/C.6/70/L.11, the Assembly would, inter alia, request the Special Committee to continue its consideration of all proposals concerning the question of the maintenance of international peace and security and of the question of the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions, including the frequency of its consideration, and to continue to consider, on a priority basis, ways and means of improving the Committee’s working methods and enhancing its efficiency. The General Assembly would also recall the consideration by the Special Committee of the proposal to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, and welcome the activities performed in that regard.

Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly

This agenda item will be considered at the seventy-first session (2016).

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