United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee

Last updated
United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee
AbbreviationLegal, C6
Legal statusActive
Headquarters New York, United States
Head
Chairperson
Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani (Qatar)
Parent organization
United Nations General Assembly
Website www.un.org/en/ga/sixth
A coloured voting box.svg   Politicsportal

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]

Contents

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 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]

Bureau

The following make up the bureau of the Sixth Committee for the 76th session of the General Assembly: [10]

NameCountryPosition
H.E. Alya Ahmed Saif Al-ThaniFlag of Qatar.svg  Qatar Chairperson
Ahmed AbdelazizFlag of Egypt.svg  Egypt Vice-Chair
Justina KrutulytėFlag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Vice-Chair
Ricardo García LópezFlag of Spain.svg  Spain Vice-Chair
Ana L. Villalobos-BrenesFlag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica Rapporteur

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.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ruder, Nicole; Nakano, Kenji; Aeschlimann, Johann (2017). Aeschlimann, Johann; Mary Regan (eds.). The GA Handbook: A Practical Guide to the United Nations General Assembly (PDF) (2nd ed.). New York: Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations. ISBN   978-0-615-49660-3.
  2. Charter of the United Nations  . San Francisco: United Nations. 1945 via Wikisource.
  3. The Charter of the United Nations: a commentary, (München: C. H. Beck Verlag, 1995), pp. 265 – 266; Paul C. Szasz, The Security Council Starts Legislating, 96 American Journal of International Law, (2002) p. 901.
  4. United Nations General Assembly Rules of Procedure, art. 98; Alan Boyle and Christine Chinkin, The Making of International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) pp. 116 – 117.
  5. "Sixth Committee (Legal)". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  6. United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee Session 74 Document1. Allocation of agenda items to the Sixth CommitteeA/C.6/74/1 30 September 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  7. Herbert W. Briggs, The International Law Commission (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1965); Alan Boyle and Christine Chinkin, The Making of International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) p. 170.
  8. "Sixth Committee (Legal Committee)". Permanent Mission to the United Nations of the Argentine Republic. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Argentina. n.d. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  9. United Nations General Assembly Session 75 Annex1. Allocation of agenda items to the Sixth CommitteeA/C.6/75/1 22 September 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  10. "Sixth Committee (Legal) — 76th session: Bureau". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 29 September 2020.