A/58/PV.72 General Assembly

The General Assembly will consider the reports of the Sixth Committee on agenda items 148 to 159, 162 to 164 and 128. I request the Rapporteur of the Sixth Committee, Mr. Metod Spacek of Slovakia, to introduce the reports of the Sixth Committee in one intervention. Mr. Spacek (Slovakia), Rapporteur of the Sixth Committee: Today I have the honour to present to the General Assembly the reports of the Sixth Committee on 15 of the agenda items allocated to it, namely, items 128, 148 to 159 and 162 to 164. I would like to draw the Assembly’s attention to agenda item 128, “Administration of justice at the United Nations”. The relevant report of the Committee is contained in document A/58/521. The draft resolution recommended for adoption by the General Assembly appears in paragraph 6 of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide to amend article 3, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal to provide that “Members shall possess judicial or other relevant legal experience in the field of administrative law or its equivalent within the member’s national jurisdiction.” The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote and we hope that the General Assembly will do the same. I now turn to the report of the Sixth Committee on agenda item 148, “Progressive development of the principles and norms of international law relating to the new international economic order”, contained in document A/58/510. Under the terms of the draft decision recommended by the Sixth Committee in paragraph 6 of the report, the General Assembly would decide to take note of the consideration of agenda item 148. The Assembly would further note that the item could be considered in the future. The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote and we hope that the General Assembly will do the same. I now turn to report of the Sixth Committee on agenda item 149, “United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law”, contained in document A/58/511. The draft resolution recommended for adoption by the General Assembly is found in paragraph 6 of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would approve the guidelines and recommendations regarding the execution of the Programme for the biennium 2004-2005, and carry out in the biennium the activities specified in section III of the report of the Secretary-General on the Programme. It would also request the Secretary-General to continue to provide the necessary resources to the budget for the Programme for future bienniums. The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote and we hope that the General Assembly will do the same. I now call the Assembly’s attention to agenda item 150, “Convention on jurisdictional immunities of States and their property”. The relevant report of the Committee is contained in document A/58/512. The draft resolution recommended for adoption by the General Assembly is reproduced in paragraph 9 of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide that the Ad Hoc Committee on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property, established by resolution 55/150 of 12 December 2000, will reconvene from 1 to 5 March 2004, with a view to completing a convention on jurisdictional immunities of States and their property. To that end, the Ad Hoc Committee would be requested to formulate a preamble and final clauses, based on previously agreed results, and to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session on the outcome of its work. The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote and we hope that the General Assembly will do the same. I now turn to agenda item 151, “Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its thirty-sixth session”. The report of the Sixth Committee on this agenda item is contained in document A/58/513. The Sixth Committee recommends that the General Assembly adopt the two draft resolutions contained in paragraph 9 of that document. Under the terms of the first draft resolution entitled “Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its thirty-sixth session”, the General Assembly would, among others things, request the Commission and its secretariat to take the lead in assuring cooperation and coordination with other relevant international organizations in work on international legal texts. In addition, it would request the Secretary-General to keep under review the level of resources available to the Commission in order to ensure its ability to carry out its mandate. It would also appeal to Governments, the relevant bodies of the United Nations system, organizations, institutions and individuals to support the training and legislative technical assistance programme of the Commission, in particular in developing countries, and to make voluntary contributions to the relevant trust funds. Under the operative paragraphs of the second draft resolution, entitled “Model Legislative Provisions on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law”, the General Assembly would express its appreciation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law for its adoption of the Model Legislative Provisions, would request the Secretary- General to publish them and would recommend that all States give due consideration to the Model Legislative Provisions and the Legislative Guide on the same subject, adopted by the Commission in 2000, when revising or adopting their relevant legislation. The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote and we hope that the General Assembly will do the same. I would now like to draw the Assembly’s attention to the Sixth Committee’s report on agenda item 152, “Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-fifth session”, contained in document A/58/514. The draft resolution recommended for adoption by the General Assembly appears in paragraph 8 of that report. By the terms of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would, among other things, take note with appreciation of the report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-fifth session and recommend that the Commission continue its work on the topics in its current programme, taking into account comments and observations of Governments. The General Assembly would reiterate the invitation to Governments to provide information regarding State practice on the topic “Unilateral acts of States” and would invite Governments to submit information regarding national legislation, bilateral and other agreements and arrangements with regard to the use and management of transboundary groundwaters, in particular those governing quality and quantity of such waters, relevant to the topic currently entitled “Shared natural resources”. The Assembly would also request the Secretary-General to invite States and international organizations to submit information concerning their practice relevant to the topic “Responsibility of international organizations”, including cases in which States members of an international organization may be regarded as responsible for acts of the Organization. The General Assembly would also invite the Commission to continue taking measures to enhance its efficiency and productivity and would encourage the Commission to continue taking cost-saving measures at it future sessions. Furthermore, it would approve the conclusions of the Commission regarding documentation of the Commission. In addition, the General Assembly would decide that the next session of the Commission would be held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 3 May to 4 June and from 5 July to 6 August 2004. The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote and we hope that the General Assembly will do the same. Let me now turn to the Sixth Committee’s report on agenda item 153, “Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country”, contained in document A/58/515. The draft resolution recommended to the Assembly for adoption is set out in paragraph 8 of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the Assembly would, inter alia, endorse the recommendations and conclusions of the Host Country Committee, express the view that the maintenance of appropriate conditions for the normal work of delegations and the missions accredited to the United Nations and the observance of their privileges and immunities is an issue of great importance, and request the host country to continue to resolve, through negotiations, problems that might arise and to take all measures necessary to prevent any interference with the functioning of missions. Furthermore, the Assembly would welcome the decision of the Committee to conduct a detailed review of the implementation of the Parking Programme for Diplomatic Vehicles, as recommended by the Legal Counsel in his legal opinion on 24 September 2002, with a view to addressing the problems experienced by some Missions during the first year of the Parking Programme, and ensuring its proper implementation in a manner that is fair, non-discriminatory, effective and consistent with international law. It would express its appreciation for the efforts made by the host country and its hope that the issues raised at the meetings of the Host Country Committee would continue to be resolved in a spirit of cooperation and in accordance with international law. Moreover, it would note that during the reporting period the travel controls previously imposed by the host country on staff of certain missions, and staff members of the Secretariat of certain nationalities, remained in effect and would request the host country to consider removing such travel controls. The Assembly would also note that the Committee anticipates that the host country will continue to ensure the timely issuance of entry visas to representatives of Member States for the purpose of their attending official United Nations meetings, in accordance with applicable agreements. The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote and we hope that the General Assembly will do the same. I now turn to the Sixth Committee’s report on agenda item 154, entitled “International Criminal Court”, contained in document A/58/516. The draft resolution recommended for adoption by the General Assembly is found in paragraph 8 of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would, inter alia, call upon all States that have signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to ratify or accede to that agreement without delay and would encourage efforts aimed at promoting the results of the Rome Conference and the provisions of the Rome Statute. The Assembly would also welcome the establishment of the Permanent Secretariat for the Assembly of States Parties and, in that context, would recognize the need for an orderly and smooth transition of that function from the United Nations Secretariat to the new body. In addition, the Assembly would express its appreciation to the Secretary-General for providing effective and efficient assistance in the establishment of the Court and would also invite him to take measures to conclude a relationship agreement between the United Nations and the Court. The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote and we hope that the Assembly will do the same. I now draw the Assembly’s attention to the Sixth Committee’s report on agenda item 155, “Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization”, contained in document A/58/517. The Sixth Committee recommends that the General Assembly adopt two draft resolutions contained in paragraph 12 of that report. By the terms of draft resolution I, entitled “Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization”, the General Assembly would, inter alia, request the Special Committee, at its next session, from 29 March to 8 April 2004, 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. The Special Committee would also be requested to continue to consider, on a priority basis, 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, by commencing a substantive debate on all of the related reports of the Secretary-General and the proposals submitted on the question. Furthermore, the Assembly would encourage the Secretary-General in his efforts to eliminate the backlog in the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and in the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council and request that he submit a report on both publications to the General Assembly at its fifty- ninth session. By the provisions of draft resolution II, entitled “Implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions”, the General Assembly would, inter alia, decide to consider at its fifty-ninth session — either within the Sixth Committee or a working group of that Committee — further progress in the elaboration of effective measures to implement the provisions of the Charter related to assistance to third States affected by sanctions. The Sixth Committee adopted the two draft resolutions without a vote and we hope that the Assembly will wish to do the same. I now turn to the report of the Sixth Committee on agenda item 156, “Measures to eliminate international terrorism”, contained in document A/58/518. The draft resolution recommended for adoption by the General Assembly is set out in paragraph 10 of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the Assembly would, inter alia, strongly condemn all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed. In addition, the Assembly would urge States that have not yet done so to consider, as a matter of priority and in accordance with Security Council resolution 1373 (2001), becoming parties to the relevant conventions and protocols in that area. The draft resolution would urge States to work in cooperation with the Secretary- General and with one another, as well as with interested intergovernmental organizations, to ensure, where appropriate within existing mandates, that technical and other expert advice is provided to States requiring and requesting assistance to enable them to become parties to the conventions and protocols in question. Furthermore, the Assembly would decide that the Ad Hoc Committee, established pursuant to resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996, would continue to elaborate a draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism, as a matter of urgency, and would continue its efforts to resolve the outstanding issues relating to the elaboration of a draft international convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism. The Ad Hoc Committee would also keep on its agenda the question of convening a high-level conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, to formulate a joint organized response of the international community to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The Assembly would further decide that the Ad Hoc Committee will meet from 28 June to 2 July 2004 and would continue their work, if necessary, during the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly, within the framework of a working group of the Sixth Committee. The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote and we hope that the Assembly will do the same. I would now like to turn to the report of the Sixth Committee on agenda item 157, “Scope of legal protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel”, contained in document A/58/519. The draft resolution recommended by the Sixth Committee for adoption by the General Assembly is set out in paragraph 10 of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would, among other things, urge States to take all necessary measures, in accordance with their international obligations, to prevent the commission of crimes against United Nations and associated personnel, and to ensure that those crimes do not go unpunished and that the perpetrators of such crimes are brought to justice. According to operative paragraph 11, the next meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee established by General Assembly resolution 56/89 would be held from 12 to 16 April 2004. The Ad Hoc Committee’s mandate, as set out in that paragraph, would be to expand the scope of legal protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, including, inter alia, by means of a legal instrument, and that the work shall continue during the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly within the working group of the Sixth Committee. By operative paragraph 12, the Ad Hoc Committee would be requested to submit a report on its work to the General Assembly at the fifty-ninth session. Finally, in operative paragraph 13, the General Assembly would request the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session on the measures taken to implement the resolution. The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote and we hope that the Assembly will do the same. I now draw the Assembly’s attention to the Sixth Committee’s report on agenda item 158, entitled “International convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings”, contained in document A/58/520. The Sixth Committee’s recommendation to the General Assembly can be found in paragraph 14 of that report. As described in paragraph 10, the Sixth Committee adopted a motion, under rule 116 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, to adjourn the debate on the agenda item until the sixtieth session of the General Assembly. Therefore, as noted in paragraph 13, the Committee did not take action on any other proposals. The Sixth Committee recommends that the item entitled “International convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings” be included in the provisional agenda of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly. I now turn to agenda item 159, “Observer status for the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in the General Assembly”. The relevant report of the Sixth Committee is contained in document A/58/522 and the draft resolution recommended for adoption by the General Assembly is found in paragraph 8 of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide to invite the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance to participate in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly in the capacity of observer. It would also request the Secretary-General to take the necessary action to implement the resolution. The draft resolution was adopted by the Sixth Committee without a vote and we hope that the Assembly will do the same. I now draw the Assembly’s attention to the Sixth Committee’s report on agenda item 162, “Observer status for the Eurasian Economic Community in the General Assembly”, contained in document A/58/523. The draft resolution recommended for adoption by the General Assembly is reproduced in paragraph 8 of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide to invite the Eurasian Economic Community to participate in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly in the capacity of observer. It would also request the Secretary-General to take the necessary action to implement the resolution. The draft resolution was adopted by the Sixth Committee without a vote and we hope that the Assembly will do the same. I now turn to agenda item 163, “Observer status for the GUUAM in the General Assembly”. The relevant report of the Committee is contained in document A/58/524 and the draft resolution for adoption by the General Assembly is set out in paragraph of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide to invite GUUAM to participate in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly in the capacity of observer. It would also request the Secretary-General to take the necessary action to implement the resolution. The draft resolution was adopted by the Sixth Committee without a vote and we hope that the General Assembly will do the same. I now turn to the Sixth Committee’s report on agenda item 164, “Observer status for the East African Community in the General Assembly”, contained in document A/58/525. The draft resolution recommended for adoption by the General Assembly is reproduced in paragraph 7 of that report. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide to invite the East African Community to participate in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly in the capacity of observer. It would also request the Secretary-General to take the necessary action to implement the resolution. The draft resolution was adopted by the Sixth Committee without a vote and we hope that the Assembly will do the same. This concludes my presentation of the reports of the Sixth Committee. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Chairman of the Sixth Committee, Ambassador Lauro Baja, and the other members of the Bureau, Mr. Tal Becker, Ambassador Allieu Ibrahim Kanu, and Ms. Gaile Ann Ramoutar, for their hard work and leadership. I would also like to thank all the delegates for their contributions to the success of the session. Furthermore, I would like to place on record our appreciation for the able and efficient cooperation provided by Mr. Václav Mikulka, the Secretary of the Committee, and his very competent team. It is owing to their efforts that the work of the Committee always proceeded smoothly, efficiently and in an atmosphere of genuine cordiality. We are grateful to them for ensuring that we completed our work successfully.

I thank the Rapporteur of the Sixth Committee. If there is no proposal under rule 66 of the rules of procedure, I shall take it that the General Assembly decides not to discuss the reports of the Sixth Committee that are before the Assembly today. Statements will therefore be limited to explanations of vote. The positions of delegations regarding the recommendations of the Sixth Committee have been made clear in the Committee and are reflected in the relevant official records. May I remind members that under paragraph 7 of decision 34/401, the General Assembly agreed that “When the same draft resolution is considered in a Main Committee and in plenary meeting, a delegation should, as far as possible, explain its vote only once, i.e., either in the Committee or in plenary meeting, unless that delegation’s vote in plenary meeting is different from its vote in the Committee.” May I remind delegations that explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats. Before we begin to take action on the recommendations contained in the reports of the Sixth Committee, I should like to advise representatives that we are going to proceed to take decisions in the same manner as was done in the Sixth Committee, unless the Secretariat is notified otherwise in advance. I should therefore hope that we may proceed to adopt without a vote those recommendations that were adopted without a vote in the Sixth Committee.