Sixth Committee (Legal) — 72nd 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/72/100)

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, 36/122, 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, 70/117 and 71/146).

At its seventy-first session, the General Assembly requested the Special Committee, at its session in 2017, 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 may be submitted to the Special Committee at its session in 2017, including strengthening the relationship and cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations or arrangements in the peaceful settlement of disputes; 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 endorsed the decisions and recommendations adopted by the Special Committee at its 2016 session and called upon the Special Committee to consider these in an appropriate, substantive manner and framework. It requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at its seventy-second 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 71/146).

At the same session, the General Assembly solemnly commended the International Court of Justice for the important role that it had played over the past 70 years in adjudicating disputes among States (resolution 71/147).

The Special Committee met at United Nations Headquarters from 21 February to 1 March 2017.

Consideration at the seventy-second session

The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 12th, 13th, 25th and 28th meetings, on 10, 11 and 31 October and on 3 November 2017, respectively (see A/C.6/72/SR.12, 13, 25 and 28).

The Chair of the 2017 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/72/33).

The Chief of the Security Council Practices and Charter Research Branch of the 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 of the 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 the Islamic Republic of Iran (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)), Algeria (on behalf of the African Group), El Salvador (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 Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania, the country of the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova aligned themselves with the statement), the Sudan, Philippines, Qatar, Libya, Russian Federation, Nicaragua, Cuba, Bangladesh, China [in English], United States of America, India, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Belarus, Malaysia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ghana, Maldives, Cameroon, Iraq and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

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

Several delegations emphasized the importance of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization and encouraged it to strike an appropriate balance between the main organs of the United Nations, in particular the General Assembly and the Security Council. Some delegations also called for Security Council reform.
In the context of the maintenance of international peace and security, several delegations expressed concern over sanctions imposed by the Security Council. Other delegations noted that the move to targeted sanctions had addressed many of the concerns.

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 expressed their satisfaction that this briefing was held on an annual basis. The Secretariat was requested to provide more information on the perceived objective assessments of the short-term and long-term socio-economic and humanitarian consequences of sanctions, including their effects on third states.

Some delegations encouraged further discussions of various proposals before the Committee, including proposals by Libya, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Belarus and the Russian Federation, and Cuba. Other delegations considered these proposals duplicative of efforts conducted elsewhere in the United Nations.

Delegations generally supported the working paper submitted by Ghana entitled on “strengthening the relationship and cooperation between the United Nations and regional arrangements or agencies in the peaceful settlement of disputes”. Support was also expressed for the recommendation of the Special Committee to undertake an annual thematic debate in the Special Committee, under the agenda item entitled “Peaceful settlement of disputes”.

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. 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.

Some delegations called upon the Special Committee to reconsider the duration and frequency of its sessions. Other delegations did not see merit in such an exercise. Delegations were urged to engage in meaningful discussion on all items on the agenda of the Special Committee.

Action taken by the Sixth Committee

At the 25th meeting, on 31 October, the representative of Lesotho, 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.6/72/L.12).

At the 28th meeting, on 3 November, the Committee adopted draft resolution A/C.6/72/L.12 without a vote.

Under the terms of draft resolution, the Assembly would, inter alia, request the Special Committee to consider the question of the maintenance of international peace and security in all its aspects and 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, as well as to keep on its agenda the question of the peaceful settlement of disputes between States. Moreover, it would decide to undertake an annual thematic debate in the Special Committee to discuss the means for the settlement of disputes, and invite Member States to focus their comments at the next session of the Special Committee on the subtopic “Exchange of information on State practices regarding the use of negotiation and enquiry”.

Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly

This agenda item will be considered at the seventy-third session (2018).

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