Sixth Committee (Legal) — 63rd session
Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly (agenda item 110)
- Authority: decision 62/517
Documentation
- A/63/915 + Add.1 — Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly: report of the Secretary-General
Summary of work
Background (source: A/63/100/Add.1)
This item, which was included in the agenda of the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly, in 1991, had originally been proposed for inclusion in the draft agenda of that session by the President of the Assembly at its forty-fifth session (see decision 45/461).
The General Assembly considered the question at its forty-sixth to forty-eighth, fifty-second and fifty-third sessions (resolutions 46/77, 47/233 and 48/264 and decisions 52/479 and 53/491).
At its fifty-fourth session, the General Assembly decided to defer consideration of the item and to include it in the draft agenda of its subsequent session (decision 54/491).
The General Assembly continued its consideration of the item from its fifty-fifth to fifty-eighth sessions (resolutions 55/285, 56/509, 57/301 and 58/126, annex). At its resumed fifty-eighth session, in July 2004, the General Assembly adopted a number of measures, inter alia, to reorganize the agenda of the Assembly; and decided to review the provisions of the reorganized agenda at its sixty-first session with a view to making further improvements (resolution 58/316).
At its sixty-second session, the General Assembly adopted the proposed programme of work and timetable of the First Committee for 2008 (decision 62/515), the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) (decision 62/524), the draft programmes of work of the Second Committee (decision 62/543) and the Third Committee (decision 62/535) and the provisional programme of work of the Sixth Committee (decision 62/517) for the sixty-third session.
At its resumed sixty-second session, in September 2008, the General Assembly decided to establish, at its sixty-third session, an ad hoc working group on the revitalization of the General Assembly, open to all Member States, in order, inter alia, to submit a report thereon to the Assembly at its sixty-third session (resolution 62/276).
No advance documentation is expected.
Consideration at the sixty-third session
At its 2nd plenary meeting on 19 September 2008, the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the General Committee, decided to allocate item 110 to all the Main Committees for the sole purpose of considering and taking action on their respective tentative programmes of work for the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly.
The Committee considered the item at its 26th meeting, on 14 November 2008 (A/C.6/63/SR.26).
Action taken by the Sixth Committee
At the 26th meeting, on 14 November 2008, the Chair introduced the draft decision on the provisional programme of work for the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly as proposed by the Bureau and contained in document A/C.6/63/L.16. At the same meeting, the Committee adopted the draft decision on the provisional programme of work for the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly (A/C.6/63/L.16). After the adoption of the draft decision, the representatives of New Zealand and Mexico (on behalf of the Rio Group) made statements in explanation of position. Under this draft decision, the General Assembly would note the decision of the Sixth Committee to adopt the provisional programme of work for the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly, as proposed by the Bureau.
Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly
- Report of the Sixth Committee: A/63/445
- GA decision: 63/529 [for the text of the decision, see the Sixth Committee's report to the General Assembly]
This agenda item was subsequently considered at the sixty-fourth session (2009)
