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Fifty-third session
Sixth Committee
1. In order to assist the
Sixth Committee in the organization of its work, the Secretariat finds
it appropriate, in the light of General Assembly resolutions 1898 (XVIII)
of 11 November 1963 and 32/71 of 9 December 1977 and of rule 99 (b) of
the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, to draw the Sixth Committee's
attention to the following.
I. Items allocated to
the Sixth Committee
2. At its 3rd plenary meeting,
on 15 September 1998, the General Assembly decided to allocate 11 items
to the Sixth Committee. The titles of those items and their numbers are
reproduced in the letter dated 15 September 1998 from the President of
the General Assembly addressed to the Chairman of the Sixth Committee (A/C.6/53/1).
II. Documentation relating
to the items allocated to the Sixth Committee
3. The following table lists
the documents of the fifty-third session of the General Assembly relating
to the items allocated to the Sixth Committee. It includes references to
the reports of commissions or committees and the reports that are to be
submitted by the Secretary-General pursuant to resolutions or decisions
of preceding sessions of the Assembly, as well as to the documents circulated
under the agenda items allocated to the Sixth Committee,(1)
in accordance with requests of Member States.
Projected date
of issuance
Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions
of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed
conflicts [146]
Report of the Secretary-General
(A/53/287) Issued
Consideration of effective measures to enhance the protection,
security and safety of diplomatic and consular missions and
representatives [147]
Report of the Secretary-General
(A/53/276) Issued
Letter dated 2 September 1998 from the Permanent
Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United
Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/53/317-
S/1998/831) Issued
Identical letters dated 10 September 1998 from the Permanent
Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United
Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and to the
President of the Security
Council (A/53/360-S/1998/846) Issued
Convention on jurisdictional immunities of States and their
property [148]
Report of the Secretary-General
(A/53/274) 18 September
United Nations Decade of
International Law [149]
(a) United Nations Decade
of International Law
Note by the Secretary-General
(A/53/...) 5 October
Letter dated 10 March 1998 from the Permanent
Representative of Peru to
the United Nations (A/53/88) Issued
(b) Progress in the action dedicated to the 1999 centennial
of the first International Peace Conference and to the closing
of the United Nations Decade
of International Law
No advance documentation
(c) Draft guiding principles
for international negotiations
Note by the Secretary-General
(A/53/332) 5 October
Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its
fiftieth session [150]
Report of the Commission, Official Records of the General
Assembly, Fifty-third
Session, Supplement No. 10 (A/53/10) 25 September
Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade
Law on the work of its thirty-first
session [151]
Report of the Commission, Official Records of the General
Assembly, Fifty-third
Session, Supplement No. 17 (A/53/17) 18 September
Report of the Committee on
Relations with the Host Country [152]
Report of the Committee, Official Records of the General
Assembly, Fifty-third
Session, Supplement No. 26 (A/53/26) 2 November
Establishment of an international
criminal court [153]
Note by the Secretary-General
(A/53/387) 28 September
Letter dated 22 July 1998 from the Permanent Representative
of Austria to the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General (A/53/189)
Issued
Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United
Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the
Organization [154]
Report of the Special Committee, Official Records of the
General Assembly, Fifty-third Session, Supplement No. 33
(A/53/33) Issued
Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of
provisions of the Charter related to assistance to third
States affected by the application
of sanctions (A/53/312) 22 September
Report of the Secretary-General on the consequences that the
increase in the volume of cases before the International
Court of Justice has on its
operation (A/53/326) 5 October
Progress report of the Secretary-General on the publication
of supplements to the Repertory of Practice of United
Nations Organs (A/53/386)
5 October
Progress report of the Secretary-General on the publication
of supplements to the Repertoire of the Practice of the
Security Council (A/53/...)
5 October
Measures to eliminate international
terrorism [155]
Report of the Ad Hoc Committee established by General
Assembly resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996, Official
Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-third Session,
Supplement No. 37
(A/53/37) Issued
Report of the Secretary-General
(A/53/314, Corr.1 and Add.1) 2 November
Letter dated 10 February 1998 from the Permanent
Representative of Georgia to the United Nations addressed to
the Secretary-General(A/53/66-S/1998/115)
Issued
Letter dated 20 February 1998 from the Permanent Representative
of Ukraine to the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General (A/53/71)
Issued
Letter dated 23 February 1998 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i.
of the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to
the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
(A/53/72-S/1998/156) Issued
Letter dated 8 April 1998 from the Permanent Representative
of Qatar to the United Nations addressed to
the Secretary-General (A/53/95-S/1998/311)
Issued
Letter dated 4 May 1998 from the Permanent Representative
of Pakistan to the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General (A/53/117-S/1998/371)
Issued
Letter dated 27 May 1998 from the Permanent Representative
of Pakistan to the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General (A/53/131-S/1998/435)
Issued
Letter dated 24 August 1998 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i.
of the Permanent Mission of Yugoslavia to the United
Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General(A/53/285) Issued
Letter dated 29 August 1998 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i.
of the Permanent Mission of Yugoslavia to the United
Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General (A/53/300) Issued
Letter dated 2 September 1998 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i.
of the Permanent Mission of Yugoslavia to the United
Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General (A/53/341) Issued
Review of the Statute of the Administrative Tribunal of the
United Nations [156]
No advance documentation
III. Date for concluding
the work of the Committee, order and approximate dates of consideration
of items
4. Rule 99 (b) of the rules
of procedure of the General Assembly provides that:
"Each Main Committee, taking
into account the closing date for the session fixed by the General Assembly
on the recommendation of the General Committee, shall adopt its own priorities
and meet as may be necessary to complete the consideration of the items
referred to it. It shall at the beginning of the session adopt a programme
of work indicating, if possible, a target date for the conclusion of its
work, the approximate dates of consideration of items and the number of
meetings to be allocated to each item."
5. Bearing in mind the allocation
of the number of meetings available to the Sixth Committee, indicated in
paragraph 11 below, it is proposed that the Committee set a target date
of 19 November for the conclusion of its work.
6. The Sixth Committee may
wish to consider, for the purpose of adopting its programme of work, the
following timetable, drawn up on the basis of the relevant General Assembly
resolutions as well as previous programmes of work adopted by the Committee,
which indicates approximate dates of consideration of agenda items referred
to it:
Approximate dates
of consideration
Measures to eliminate international
terrorism [155](Working Group)(2)
28 September-9 October 1998
Report of the United Nations Commission on
International Trade Law on the work of its
thirty-first session [151]
12-13 October
United Nations Decade of
International Law [149] 14-15 October
Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of
the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the
Role of the Organization
[154] 16-20 October
Establishment of an international criminal
court [153] 21-22 October
Report of the International Law Commission on the
work of its fiftieth session
[150](3) 26 October-6 November
Convention on jurisdictional immunities of States
and their property [148]
9-10 November
Review of the Statute of the
United Nations Administrative
Tribunal [156] 10 November
Measures to eliminate international
terrorism [155] 11-12 November
Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva
Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection
of victims of armed conflicts
[146] 13 November
Consideration of effective measures to enhance the
protection, security and safety of diplomatic and
consular missions and representatives
[147] 16 November
United Nations Decade of
International Law [149] 16-17 November
Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host
Country [152] 17 November
Reserve 18-19 November
IV. Establishment of working
groups and holding of consultations
7. Concerning agenda item
155, "Measures to eliminate international terrorism", the General Assembly,
at its fifty-second session recommended that the work of the Ad Hoc Committee
established by resolution 51/210 continue during the fifty-third session
of the General Assembly from 28 September to 9 October 1998 within the
framework of a working group of the Sixth Committee (resolution 52/165
of 15 December 1996).
8. As regards agenda item
149, "United Nations Decade of International Law", the General Assembly
at its fifty-second session requested the Working Group of the Sixth Committee
on the item to continue its work at the fifty-third session in accordance
with its mandate and methods of work (resolution 52/153 of 15 December
1997). In addition, the General Assembly also decided to continue the consideration
of the sub-item entitled "Draft guiding principles for international negotiations"
in the Working Group of the Sixth Committee at the fifty-third session
(resolution 52/155 of 15 December 1997).
9. In view of the limited
conference services available to the Sixth Committee, as indicated in paragraph
12 below, any meetings for working groups or for informal consultations
would have to be accommodated in place of, rather than in addition to,
meetings allocated to the Committee.
V. Deadline for submission
of draft resolutions with financial implications
10. According to rule 153
of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, "no resolution involving
expenditure shall be recommended by a committee for approval by the General
Assembly unless it is accompanied by an estimate of expenditures prepared
by the Secretary-General". It is therefore imperative that the Sixth Committee
allow sufficient time for the preparation of the estimates of expenditures
by the Secretariat and for its consideration by the Advisory Committee
on Administrative and Budgetary Questions and by the Fifth Committee. Under
the circumstances, if 19 November 1998 is accepted as the concluding date
for the work of the Sixth Committee (see para. 5 above), 2 November 1998
would have to be considered as the mandatory deadline for submission to
the Fifth Committee of draft resolutions with financial implications.
VI. Conference resources
available
11. The available conference
facilities will, in principle, enable the Committee to hold an average
of seven plenary meetings per week and the Working Group referred to in
paragraph 7 above to hold 10 meetings per week. Normally, morning meetings
will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and afternoon meetings from 3 p.m.
to 6 p.m.
12. In order to avoid difficulties
in the organization of services for the meetings of regional groups of
the Committee, it is suggested that all requests for such meetings be channelled
to the Planning and Meetings Services Section through the Secretary of
the Committee.
1. * The figure in brackets after the title of each item indicates its number on the agenda of the fifty-third session. The listing of documents is based on information available at 15 September 1998.