Sixth Committee (Legal) — 71st 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 83)

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Documentation

Summary of work

Background (source: A/71/100)

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, 68/115, 69/122 and 70/117).

At its seventieth session, the General Assembly requested the Special Committee, at its session in 2016, 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 and, in this context, to consider other proposals relating to the maintenance of international peace and security already submitted or which might be submitted to the Special Committee at its session in 2016, including strengthening the relationship and cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations or arrangements in the peaceful settlement of disputes; 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 recalled the consideration by the Special Committee of the proposal to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations and welcomed the activities performed in this regard. It requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at its seventy-first 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 70/117).

The Special Committee met at United Nations Headquarters from 16 to 24 February 2016.

Consideration at the seventy-first session

The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 15th, 16th, 30th, 32nd and 33rd meetings on 14 October, 3 November, 7 November and on 11 November 2016 (A/C.6/71/SR.15, 16, 30, 32 and 33).

The Chair of the 2016 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/71/33).

The Officer-in-Charge 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, while 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.

Statements were made by the representatives of Dominican Republic (on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)), Iran (Islamic Republic of) (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 Montenegro and Albania, the country of the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the European Free Trade Association country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Georgia aligned themselves with the statement), Cuba, Peru, the Sudan, the Russian Federation, Ghana, Libya, Nicaragua, the United States of America, Nigeria, Namibia, Algeria, Bangladesh, Iran (Islamic Republic of), China, India, the Philippines, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Belarus, Morocco and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).

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

Delegations took note of the report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization (A/71/33) and highlighted the importance of the functions of the Special Committee while underlying the need to revitalize its work.

Some delegations 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, underlining the need for the Security Council to be more representative, transparent and democratic. On this note, some delegations emphasized the need for the principal organs of the United Nations to respect each other’s functions and powers, the importance of strengthening the role of the General Assembly, and that any encroachment from the Security Council on the work of that organ and that of the Economic and Social Council must be avoided.

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 highlighted the necessity for the continued consideration of this topic, with some stressing the need for the Security Council to focus on this issue and to ensure that adequate assistance is rendered to third States, giving consideration to humanitarian aspects. Notably, some delegations, whilst welcoming the decision to discuss this item on a biennial basis, reiterated the view that the topic should eventually be removed from the agenda.

In the context of the maintenance of international peace and security, several delegations expressed concerns as regards sanctions imposed by the Security Council. Emphasizing that sanctions should be implemented in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations, delegations stressed the need for sanctions to be used only as a last resort and that adverse humanitarian effects of sanctions must be minimized. Some delegations also noted that the objectives of sanctions regimes should be 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. A number of delegations also 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 expressed their satisfaction that this briefing would be held on a regular basis.

In the context of the peaceful settlement of disputes, delegations underlined the importance of the obligation to settle disputes by peaceful means and recalled that the basic framework for such an obligation arose out of the Charter of the United Nations. Delegations recalled the Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, stressed the critical role of the International Court of Justice in the peaceful settlement of disputes, and supported the update of the Handbook on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes between States as well as the establishment of a United Nations website dedicated to this issue with cross-references to relevant United Nations documents. Notably, many delegations supported the proposal submitted by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) entitled “Pacific settlement of disputes and its impact on the maintenance of peace”. Some delegations noted their appreciation of the Special Committee’s decision to hold informal intersessional meetings to analyze the proposal in-depth and called on the Secretariat and the sponsors of the proposal to convene such meetings.

Several delegations encouraged further discussions of various proposals before the 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 revised working paper by the Russian Federation and Belarus which recommended, inter alia, 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 of self-defence; the further revised working paper submitted by  Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 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. Several delegations also called for meaningful discussion, including during intersessional meetings, of the working paper submitted by Ghana entitled “Working paper by Ghana on strengthening the relationship and cooperation between the United Nations and regional arrangements or agencies in the peaceful settlement of disputes”.

Several delegations welcomed the initiative to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the International Court of Justice, as a result of the recommendation of the Special Committee at its last session in General Assembly resolution 70/117 of 14 December 2015.

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 these publications and make them available on the internet. Nonetheless, some delegations called for further efforts to eliminate the Repertory backlog, while others stressed the need to make the publications available in all official languages of the Organization.

As regards the working methods of the Special Committee, delegations recalled the constructive spirit in which the Special Committee had worked on achieving tangible results during its last session. Some delegations emphasized that the working methods of the Special Committee could and should be enhanced, while others underlined the importance of establishing a solid thematic agenda, based on new identified subjects and on the study of its current subjects.

With regard to the identification of new items, new ways to improve the Special Committee’s working methods and efficiency were called for, including the consideration of topical and feasible new items,  reiterating that the Committee’s work and possible new items must be in line with the General Assembly’s mandate.

Action taken by the Sixth Committee

At the 30th meeting, on 3 November 2016, the representative of Zambia, on behalf of the bureau, introduced the draft resolution entitled “Commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the International Court of Justice” (A/C.6/71/L.16), which was adopted at the 32nd meeting, on 7 November 2016 without a vote.

At the 33rd meeting, on 11 November 2016, the representative of Zambia, on behalf of the bureau, introduced the 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.6/71/L.15), which was adopted at the same meeting without a vote.

By the terms of draft resolution A/C.6/71/L.15, 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 as well as other proposals relating to the maintenance of international peace and security, to keep on its agenda the question of the peaceful settlement of disputes between States, and to continue to consider, on a priority basis, ways and means of improving its working methods and enhancing its efficiency and utilization of resources with a view to identifying widely acceptable measures for further implementation; endorse the decisions and recommendations adopted by the Special Committee at its 2016 session, as annexed to the resolution, and call upon the Special Committee to consider them in an appropriate, substantive manner and framework. Such decisions and recommendations would include, inter alia, calling upon Member States to hold intersessional informal meetings with the aim of finalizing the proposal submitted on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement entitled “Pacific settlement of disputes and its impact on the maintenance of peace” and the proposal submitted by Ghana entitled “Working paper by Ghana on strengthening the relationship and cooperation between the United Nations and regional arrangements or agencies in the peaceful settlement of disputes”; recommending that the question of the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations relating to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions (Article 50 of the Charter) be considered by the Special Committee at the seventy-second session of the General Assembly and biennially thereafter; and recommending that the Secretary-General be requested to brief the Special Committee annually, commencing at its 2017 session, on the document entitled “Introduction and implementation of sanctions imposed by the United Nations” contained in the annex to General Assembly resolution 64/115 of 16 December 2009. The Assembly would further invite the Special Committee to continue identifying new subjects for consideration in its future work with a view to contributing to the revitalization of the work of the United Nations; call upon the Secretary-General to continue his efforts towards updating the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council, and making them available electronically in all their respective language versions; welcome the establishment of a new website for the Repertory; and request the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-second session, a report on the implementation of the provisions of the Charter related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions. The General Assembly would also decide to include, in the provisional agenda of its seventy-second session, the item entitled “Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization”.

Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly

This agenda item will be considered at the seventy-second session (2017).

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