A/70/PV.50 General Assembly

The Assembly will now turn to the election of 30 members of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. The 30 outgoing members are as follows: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Botswana, Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Fiji, Gabon, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Poland, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, the United States of America and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Those Member States are eligible for immediate re-election. I should like to remind members that as of 27 June 2016, the following States will continue to be represented in the Commission: Armenia, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Liberia, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mexico, Namibia, Panama, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom *1535537* 15-35537 (E) of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Zambia. Therefore, those 30 States are not eligible for election. The General Assembly will now proceed to the election of 30 members to replace those members whose term of office will expire on 27 June 2016. In accordance with rule 92 of the General Assembly rules of procedure, the election will be held by secret ballot and there will be no nominations. I should like to recall, however, paragraph 16 of decision 34/401, whereby the practice of dispensing with the secret ballot for elections to subsidiary organs when the number of candidates corresponds to the number of seats to be filled should become standard unless a delegation specifically requests a vote on a given election. In the absence of such a request, may I take it that the Assembly decides to proceed to the election on the basis of dispensing with the secret ballot?

With regard to candidates, I should like to inform members of the following. For the seven seats from among the African States, there is one candidate: Mauritius. For the seven seats among the Asia-Pacific States, the group has endorsed six candidates: India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand. For the four seats among the Eastern European States, the group has endorsed four candidates: Belarus, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. For the five seats among the Latin American and Caribbean States, there are five endorsed candidates: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For the seven seats among the Western European and other States, there are seven endorsed candidates: Australia, Austria, Israel, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the United States of America. Since the number of candidates for the five regional groups is equal to or less than the number of seats to be filled by each group, may I take it that the General Assembly wishes to declare those candidates elected for a six-year term beginning on 27 June 2016?

I congratulate the following States, which have been elected as members of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law for a six-year term beginning on 27 June 2016: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, India, Israel, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Mauritius, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United States of America and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Regarding the six remaining vacancies from the Group of African States and the one remaining vacancy from the Group of Asia-Pacific States, the General Assembly will hold elections upon notification by interested Member States from those two regions. The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 113.

The General Assembly has before it a note by the Secretary-General circulated in document A/70/107. As indicated in that document, since the term of office of the representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Côte d’Ivoire, Iraq, Israel, Peru, Senegal and Uruguay will expire on 31 December 2015, it will be necessary for the President of the General Assembly to appoint seven members to fill the resulting vacancies. These members will serve for a period of three years beginning on 1 January 2016. On the recommendation of the Chair of the Group of African States, I have endorsed Ghana and Liberia as members of the Committee on Conferences for a period of three years beginning on 1 January 2016. May I take it that the Assembly takes note of these appointments?

I should like to remind members that one seat from the Asia-Pacific States, one seat from the Eastern European States, two seats from the Latin American and Caribbean States and one seat from the Western European and other States, for a period of two years beginning on 1 January 2016, remain vacant. I urge these groups to submit their candidates as soon as possible. The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (e) of agenda item 114. (f) Appointment of members of the Joint Inspection Unit Note by the Secretary-General (A/70/106)

As indicated in the note by the Secretary-General, the General Assembly is required during the current session to appoint a member to fill the vacancy in the Joint Inspection Unit that will arise from the expiration of the term of office on 31 December 2016 of Mr. Jorge Flores Callejas (Honduras). As also indicated in document A/70/106, in accordance with paragraph 1 of article 3 of the statute of the Joint Inspection Unit, the President of the General Assembly will consult with Member States to draw up a list of countries — in this case, one country — which would be requested to propose a candidate for appointment to the Joint Inspection Unit. As further indicated in paragraph 2 of document A/70/106, the General Assembly, by its resolution 61/238 decided that, beginning on 1 January 2008, the President of the General Assembly, when drawing up the list of countries in accordance with article 3, paragraph 1, of the statute of the Unit, would invite Member States to submit the names of the countries and their respective candidates simultaneously, on the understanding that the candidates submitted were the candidates that the respective Member States intend to propose, to the extent possible, for appointment by the Assembly in accordance with article 3, paragraph 2, on the statute. After holding the necessary consultations, I should like to communicate to the Assembly the information received from the Chair of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States that the Group has endorsed Honduras as the country that will propose a candidate for the vacancy from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. In accordance with paragraph 1 of article 3, of the statute of the Joint Inspection Unit and resolution 61/238, of 22 December 2006, Honduras will be requested to submit the name of the candidate and the curriculum vitae highlighting the candidate’s relevant qualifications for the task. I would like to remind members that, in accordance with resolution 59/267, of 23 December 2004, the candidates should have experience in at least one of the following fields: oversight, audit, inspection, investigation, evaluation, finance, project evaluation, programme evaluation, human resources management, management, public administration, monitoring and all-programme performance as well as knowledge of the United Nations system and its role in international relations. After holding the appropriate consultations described in paragraph 2 of article 3 of the statute of the Joint Inspection Unit, including consultations with the President of the Economic and Social Council and with the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chair of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, I will submit the name of the candidate to the Assembly for appointment to the Joint Inspection Unit. We have thus concluded this stage of our consideration of sub-item (f) of agenda item 114.

The General Assembly will now proceed to hold a by-election to elect one member of the Economic and Social Council, in accordance with rule 140 of the rules of procedure. Members are reminded that the election of 18 members of the Economic and Social Council was held at the 37th plenary meeting, on 21 October 2015, in which the following 18 States were elected members of the Economic and Social Council for a three-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2016: Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the Czech Republic, Guyana, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, Nigeria, Peru, the Republic of Moldova, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, the United States of America and Viet Nam. I would first like to draw the attention of members to a letter dated 7 October 2015 from the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, circulated in document A/70/426. In his letter, the Permanent Representative of Ireland, in his capacity as Chair of the Group of Western European and other States, announces that Austria will relinquish its seat on the Economic and Social Council at the end of the year 2015 for the remainder of the 2015-2017 term, in favour of Ireland. As a result, one vacancy will occur and a new member must therefore be elected to fill the unexpired term of office of Austria, commencing on 1 January 2016 and expiring on 31 December 2017. In accordance with paragraph 4 of resolution 2847 (XXVI), adopted on 20 December 1971, and taking into account that the vacancy will occur in the Group of Western European and other States, the new member should therefore be elected from that regional group. I should like to inform the Assembly that the candidate who receives a two-thirds majority and the greatest number of votes by members present and voting will be declared elected. May I take it that the General Assembly agrees to that procedure?

In accordance with rule 92 of the rules of procedure, the election will be held by secret ballot, and there will be no nominations. We shall now proceed accordingly. I should like to inform members that, as of 1 January 2016, the following States from among the Western European and other States will be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America The names of those 11 States should therefore not appear on the ballot. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. In addition, ballot papers will be given solely to the delegate seated directly behind the country’s name plate. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. I would like to remind members that, at this stage, they are voting in the by-election for one seat for the Western European and other States. Ballot papers will now be distributed. I request representatives to use only those ballot papers and to write on them the name of the State for which they wish to vote. A ballot will be declared invalid if it contains more names of Member States from the relevant region than the number of seats assigned to it. A ballot will also be declared invalid if all the names of the Member States on that ballot do not belong to the relevant region.

The result of the voting is as follows: Western European and other States Number of ballot papers: 179 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 178 Abstentions: 5 Number of members present and voting: 173 Required two-thirds majority: 116 Number of votes obtained: Ireland 172 Iceland 1

I congratulate Ireland on having been elected a member of the Economic and Social Council l, and I thank the tellers for their assistance in this election. The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 112.