Organisation
The United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee (also known as the Legal Committee or C6) is one of six main committees of the General Assembly of the United Nations. It deals primarily with legal matters and is the primary forum for the consideration of international law and other legal matters concerning the United Nations.[1]
Mandate
The United Nations General Assembly has an express mandate to promote the progressive development of public international law as laid out in the Charter of the United Nations. Specifically, Article 13 of the Charter states that the General Assembly has the authority to "initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of: (a) promoting international co-operation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification."[2]
Subsequent practice has interpreted this provision as a broad authorization to elaborate new treaties on the widest range of issues, to adopt them, and to recommend them to states for their subsequent signature, ratification or accession.[3] While international law-making negotiations take place in a variety of specialized bodies of the United Nations, depending on their actual subject-matter, those negotiations related to general international law are usually held at the Sixth Committee.[4]
Composition and method of work
The Sixth Committee has universal membership, as such all United Nations member states are entitled to representation in its proceedings. Non-member states with observer status may also attend and participate in the discussions of the committee.[1][5]
The Sixth Committee meets every year for six weeks in parallel with the General Assembly's annual session, with its work beginning after the general debate and finishing by mid-November. Occasionally, the committee may also be reconvened upon request of the General Assembly to address substantive questions. Before the work of the committee begins, the General Assembly assigns to it a list of agenda items to be discussed. Common agenda items include:[6]
- The promotion of justice and international law
- Accountability and internal United Nations justice matters
- Drug control
- Crime prevention
- Combating international terrorism
The committee also hears the annual reports of its reporting bodies, as well as considers requests for observer status in the General Assembly.
The committee does not hold a general debate at the start of its session, instead discussing its agenda items one by one, following a program of work adopted at its first meeting. Following formal discussions and negotiations, any adopted proposals are submitted to the plenary of the General Assembly for final adoption. If a particular issue proves too complex for the committee, it may refer it to the International Law Commission, or it may create an ad hoc committee to discuss it.[1][7]
The highlight of the Sixth Committee's work is the "International Law Week" beginning at the end of October, when top legal advisers from member states meet in New York to consider the report of the International Law Commission. Additionally, during the week, the reports of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court are also presented to the plenary of the General Assembly.[8]
Reporting bodies
The following bodies all report to the General Assembly through the Sixth Committee:[1]
Current state
In its 76th session, the committee will focus on:[9]
- Criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission
- Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its fifty-fourth session
- United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law
- Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventy-second session
- Crimes against humanity
- Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization
- The rule of law at the national and international levels
- The scope and application of the principle of universal jurisdiction
- Protection of persons in the event of disasters
- Strengthening and promoting the international treaty framework
- Measures to eliminate international terrorism
- Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly
- Programme planning
- Administration of justice at the United Nations
- Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country
- Observer status for the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States in the General Assembly
- Observer status for the Eurasian Economic Union in the General Assembly
- Observer status for the Community of Democracies in the General Assembly
- Observer status for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Secretariat in the General Assembly
- Observer status for the Global Environment Facility in the General Assembly
- Observer status for the International Organization of Employers in the General Assembly
- Observer status for the International Trade Union Confederation in the General Assembly
- Observer status for the Boao Forum for Asia in the General Assembly
- Observer status for the International Solar Alliance in the General Assembly
Treaties and resolutions negotiated at the Sixth Committee
The following treaties and resolutions have been negotiated, as a whole or in part, at the Sixth Committee:
Since 2000 the Sixth Committee has been elaborating a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism to complement the existing counter-terrorism instruments. That proposed treaty has not yet been adopted.
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