Sixth Committee (Legal) — 69th 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 81)

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Documentation

Summary of work

Background (source: A/69/100)

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).

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)).

Meanwhile, another 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 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 and 67/96).

At its sixty-eighth session, the General Assembly requested the Special Committee, at its session in 2014, 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; and requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at its sixty-ninth 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 68/115).

The Special Committee met at United Nations Headquarters from 18 to 26 February 2014.

Consideration at the sixty-ninth session

The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 9th and 29th meetings, on 14 October and 14 November 2014 (see A/C.6/69/SR.9 and 29).
 
At the 9th meeting, on 14 October, the Chair of the 2014 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/69/33). At the same meeting, 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 Islamic Republic of Iran (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)), South Africa (on behalf of the African Group), Costa Rica (on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)), the European Union (also on behalf of its Member States. The candidate countries The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Iceland and Albania, the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Republic of Moldova and Georgia aligned themselves with the statement), Sudan, Nicaragua, the Russian Federation, Cuba, Algeria, the United States of America, El Salvador, Malaysia, Ghana, Libya, Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Syrian Arab Republic, Morocco, China [in English], Nigeria and Tunisia.

The representatives of Republic of Korea and of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea exercised the right of reply.

Several delegations referred to the reform process of the United Nations [UN], including the need for the principal organs of the UN to respect each other’s functions and powers and the importance of strengthening the role of the General Assembly, and some discussed the necessity of reform of the Security Council.

In the context of the maintenance of international peace and security, concern with regard to the Security Council imposed sanctions was expressed by several delegations, which 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. Those delegations stressed the need to minimize the adverse humanitarian effects of sanctions. The view was expressed that the objectives of sanctions regimes should be clearly defined, based on tenable legal grounds, imposed for a specified time frame, with the conditions on which the sanctions are imposed clearly defined and subject to periodic review.

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 expressed support for continuing to consider the topic. Some stressed the need to create the mechanism necessary for evaluating the impact of sanctions on third States and it was suggested that the International Law Commission consider the issue of sanctions affecting third States. Other delegations reiterated the view that the topic should be removed from the agenda since the application of targeted sanctions in recent years had already minimized the possibility of adverse consequences for civilian population.

Several delegations continued to support discussion on the proposal submitted by Venezuela to establish an 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. Several delegations expressed support for the consideration of Libya’s revised proposal submitted with a view to strengthening the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security. Several delegations reiterated 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. Several delegations also supported further discussions on the working paper introduced by Cuba on the strengthening of the role of the Organization and enhancing its effectiveness. Other delegations  did  not support further discussion of the above mentioned proposals.

On the topic of the peaceful settlement of disputes, delegations highlighted the importance of the topic and the role of the United Nations and the International Court of Justice in the field. Cuba indicated its intention to submit a new document under the topic. Several delegations referred to the 1982 Manila Declaration as an important document in the area. While several delegations supported the proposals put forward by the Russian Federation regarding the possibility of requesting the Secretariat to update the 1992 UN Handbook on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, and to create dedicated website in the field, other delegations did not see any added value in such proposals due to abundance of relevant information available online and in light of limited resources within the Secretariat.

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 and make them available on the Internet. Some delegations nonetheless called for further efforts to eliminate the backlog in volume III of the Repertory.

On the issue of the identification of new subjects, several delegations called for the meaningful consideration of proposals introduced at previous sessions. Support was expressed for discussion of the proposal of Ghana for the inclusion of a new subject on strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and Regional Organizations/Arrangements in the peaceful settlement of disputes. Ghana described its proposal as intended to add value to existing arrangements, working towards clearer principles and practical measures leading to better coordination and cooperation in the relationship between the United Nations and regional organizations. Other delegations urged caution in adding new items, and observed that any proposals should be practical, non-political and not duplicative. The view was expressed that new proposals that are in line with the mandate of the Special Committee should, in principle, be welcomed, while at the same time it was cautioned that no new item should involve amendment to the Charter of the United Nations unless clearly mandated by the General Assembly.

Several delegations emphasized that the work of the Special Committee could and should be enhanced through improvement of its working methods. Several delegations urged the implementation of the proposals made in 2006 on the working methods of the Special Committee. It was recommended that the Special Committee consider whether items should remain on the agenda, taking into account, inter alia, whether topics were addressed elsewhere in the United Nations, their relevance, and the likelihood of reaching consensus within the Special Committee. Those delegations again supported examining the frequency and duration of the sessions of the Special Committee. On the other hand, other delegations supported maintaining the amount of time allocated to discussions within the Special Committee.

Several delegations also called for the commemoration of the 70th anniversary  of the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations.

Action taken by the Sixth Committee

At the 29th meeting, on 14 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.6/69/L.13). At the same meeting, the Committee adopted draft resolution A/C.6/69/L.13 without a vote.

By the terms of draft resolution A/C.6/69/L.13, 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 Special Committee would also consider the question of an appropriate commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations.

Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly

This agenda item will be considered at the seventieth session (2015).

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