A/66/PV.82 General Assembly

I thank the Vice-Chair 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. It was so decided.

Statements will therefore be limited to explanations of vote. The positions of delegations regarding the recommendations of the Sixth Committee have been made clear during the work of 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, that is, 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 also 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 take decisions in the same manner as was done in the Committee, unless the Secretariat is notified otherwise in advance. I therefore hope that we may proceed to adopt without a vote those recommendations that were adopted without a vote in the Committee. Members are reminded that additional sponsors are no longer accepted now that the draft resolutions and decisions have been adopted by the Committee. Any clarification about sponsorship should be addressed to the Secretary of the Committee.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 77? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 78? It was so decided.

Draft resolution II is entitled “United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Model Law on Public Procurement”. The Sixth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

Draft resolution III is entitled “United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency: The Judicial Perspective”. The Sixth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 79? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 80? It was so decided.

Draft resolution II is entitled “Effects of armed conflicts on treaties”. The Sixth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

Draft resolution III is entitled “Responsibility of international organizations”. The Sixth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 81? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 82? It was so decided.

I would like to remind Member States that, at the meeting of the Sixth Committee held on 11 November, oral revisions were made to draft resolution A/C.6/66/L.20, after which the Committee immediately adopted it. Since the Secretariat did not have sufficient time to revise its oral statement accordingly, I shall now read out, for the record only and without setting a precedent, the following statement on behalf of the Secretary-General in accordance with rule 153 of the rules of procedures of the General Assembly. Under the terms of paragraphs 15 (a), 15 (b), 16 and 18 of the draft resolution, as orally revised by the coordinator and adopted by the Sixth Committee on 11 November, the General Assembly would recall its decision to convene a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the topic “The rule of law at the national and international levels” during the high-level segment of its sixty-seventh session and decide that the organizational arrangements for the high-level meeting should be as follows. The high-level meeting will be held as a one-day plenary meeting on Monday, 24 September 2012. The President of the General Assembly, the Secretary- General, the President of the International Court of Justice, the President of the Security Council, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Chair of the International Law Commission, Member States and observers, as well as a limited number of representatives of non-governmental organizations active in the field of the rule of law, will be invited to speak at the opening plenary meeting. The high-level meeting will result in a concise outcome document. The draft resolution would request the President of the General Assembly to produce a draft text, in consultation with Member States, at an appropriate date in order to enable sufficient consideration and agreement by Member States prior to the meeting, and would request the Secretary-General to submit a report for the consideration of Member States in preparation for the high-level meeting no later than March 2012. As regards the high-level meeting, to be convened on Monday, 24 September 2012, as called for in paragraph 15 (a), it is determined that the requirements to service the meeting with interpretation and other support services will be covered by using the budgetary provisions provided to service the General Assembly, on the understanding that there will be no parallel meetings of the General Assembly or its working groups at the same time. With regard to the invitees listed in paragraph 15 (b), additional costs would be incurred by some invitees from outside New York to travel to New York, inter alia, the President of the International Court of Justice, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime and the Chair of the International Law Commission. It is determined that the related travel costs would be absorbed within the provision of the respective proposed programme budgets for the biennium 2012-2013. With regard to the outcome document, the draft text of the outcome document called for in paragraph 16 and the report of the Secretary-General called for in paragraph 17, additional requirements totalling $35,600 under section 2, “General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management”, would arise to process those documents, an estimated 2,000 words for the outcome document and an estimated 4,000 words for the report of the Secretary-General, in all six languages. It is determined that those additional costs could be absorbed. In summary, should the General Assembly adopt the draft resolution recommended by the Sixth Committee on 11 November, no additional programme budget implications would arise for the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2012-2013.

We will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Sixth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 83? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 84? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 85? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 109? It was so decided.

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 121.

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 135.

Draft resolution II is entitled “Amendments to the rules of procedure of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal”. The Sixth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 143.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 166? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 167? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 168? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 169? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 170? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 171? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 172? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 173? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 174? It was so decided.

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 175? It was so decided.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I would like to thank His Excellency Mr. Hernán Salinas Burgos of Chile, Chair of the Sixth Committee, the members of the bureau, the Secretary of the Committee and representatives for a job well done. The General Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of all the reports of the Sixth Committee before it. Programme of work The Acting President: I should like to consult members regarding an extension for the work of the Fifth Committee. Members will recall that, at its 2nd plenary meeting, on 16 September, the General Assembly approved the recommendation of the General Committee that the Fifth Committee would complete its work by Friday, 9 December. However, the President of the Assembly has been informed by the Chair of the Fifth Committee that the Committee will not be able to finish its work by today, Friday, 9 December. May I therefore take it that the General Assembly agrees to extend the work of the Fifth Committee until Thursday, 22 December? It was so decided.