Sixth Committee (Legal) — 77th session
Consideration of prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities and allocation of loss in the case of such harm (Agenda item 80)
- Authority: resolution 74/189
Documentation
- A/77/148 — Report of the Secretary-General: Consideration of prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities and allocation of loss in the case of such harm
- A/77/147 — Report of the Secretary-General: Compilation of decisions of international courts, tribunals and other bodies
- A/C.6/77/L.11 — Draft resolution
Summary of work
Background (source: A/77/100)
At its fifty-sixth session, the General Assembly, under the item entitled “Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-third session”, considered chapter V of the report of the Commission, which contained the draft articles on prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities, together with a recommendation that the Assembly consider the elaboration of a convention on the basis of the draft articles. The Assembly expressed its appreciation for the valuable work done by the Commission on the issue of prevention on the topic of “International liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law (prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities)”, and requested the Commission to resume, during its fifty-fourth session, its consideration of the liability aspects of the topic (resolution 56/82).
At its sixty-first session, the Assembly, under the item entitled “Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-eighth session”, took note of the draft principles on the allocation of loss in the case of transboundary harm arising out of hazardous activities adopted by the Commission (resolution 61/36, annex), and decided to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-second session an item entitled “Consideration of prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities and allocation of loss in the case of such harm” (resolution 61/36).
The Assembly has considered the item triennially since its sixty-second session (resolutions 62/68, 65/28, 68/114, 71/143 and 74/189).
At its seventy-fourth session, the Assembly allocated the item to the Sixth Committee, where statements in the debate were made by 14 delegations (see A/C.6/74/SR.21). The Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit a compilation of decisions of international courts, tribunals and other bodies referring to the articles and the principles and decided to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-seventh session the item entitled “Consideration of prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities and allocation of loss in the case of such harm” (resolution 74/189).
Consideration at the seventy-seventh session
The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 18th, 32nd and 34th meetings, on 19 October and on 3 and 7 November 2022 (see A/C.6/77/SR.18, 32 and 34). For its consideration of the item, the Committee had before it the reports of the Secretary-General (A/77/147 and A/77/148).
Statements were made by the representatives of Antigua and Barbuda (on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)), New Zealand (on behalf of Australia, Canada and New Zeeland (CANZ)), Iran (Islamic Republic of), the United States of America, Mexico, Egypt, El Salvador, Portugal, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, the Russian Federation, Malaysia, Chile, Micronesia (Federated States of), Algeria, Türkiye and the Netherlands.
Delegations continued to welcome the work of the International Law Commission in this area and reiterated their support for the draft articles on prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities, as well as for the draft principles on the allocation of loss in the case of transboundary harm arising out of hazardous activities. Some delegations highlighted that portions of both the articles and principles reflect existing customary law. The view was also expressed that the articles and principles represent the progressive development of international law for the most part. States were once again encouraged to continue to be guided by the articles and principles by some delegations.
A number of delegations made substantive comments on the articles and principles, with some delegations highlighting once again the absence of a definition of the term “significant transboundary harm” in the articles.
With regard to the final form of the articles and the principles, several delegations reiterated that they would be most effective if they remained in their current form, highlighting their usefulness as non-binding guidance provisions for States. On the other hand, it was reiterated by several delegations that a unified convention incorporating both the articles and the principles could be useful. A view was also expressed that the articles and principles require further consideration and study by taking into account the practice of States, and a call was made for continued work on finding the most acceptable format for the articles and the principles was made.
Archived videos and summaries of plenary meetings
18th meeting (19 October 2022, 3:00pm – 6:00pm) | Summary
32nd meeting (3 November 2022, 10:00am – 1:00pm) | Summary
34th meeting (7 November 2022, 10:00am – 1:00pm) | Summary
Action taken by the Sixth Committee
At the 32nd meeting, on 3 November, the representative of Czech Republic, on behalf of the Bureau, introduced a draft resolution entitled “Consideration of prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities and allocation of loss in the case of such harm” (A/C.6/77/L.11).
At the 34th meeting, on 7 November, the Committee adopted draft resolution A/C.6/77/L.11 without a vote.
By the terms of the resolution, the General Assembly would, inter alia, commend the articles on prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities (A/RES/62/68) and the principles on the allocation of loss in the case of transboundary harm arising out of hazardous activities (A/RES/61/36) to the attention of Governments, and invite Governments to submit further comments on any future action, in particular on the form of the respective articles and principles, bearing in mind the recommendations made by the Commission in that regard, including in relation to the elaboration of a convention on the basis of the articles, as well as on any practice in relation to the application of the articles and principles. It would also request the Secretary-General to submit a compilation of decisions of international courts, tribunals and other bodies referring to the articles and the principles. Finally, it would include in the provisional agenda of its eighty-second session the item entitled “Consideration of prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities and allocation of loss in the case of such harm”.
Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly
This agenda item will be considered at the eighty-second session (2027).
