The Work of the International Law Commission, 2007–2011: Progress and Prospects

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald McRae
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
The Way

On November 17, 2011, the UN General Assembly elected the members of the International Law Commission for the next five years. In the course of the quinquennium that was completed in August 2011 with the end of the sixty-third session, the Commission concluded four major topics on its agenda: the law of transboundary aquifers, the responsibility of international organizations, the effect of armed conflicts on treaties, and reservations to treaties. It was by any standard a substantial output. The beginning of a new quinquennium now provides an opportunity to assess what the Commission has achieved, to consider the way it operates, and to reflect on what lies ahead for it.

The Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers: The Process at the UN ILC

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raya Marina Stephan
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Proper Management ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission

AbstractIn 2002, the UN International Law Commission added to its program of work the topic of Shared Natural Resources: transboundary groundwater, oil and gas. Six years later, the UN ILC completed its work on the first sub-topic by adopting at second reading nineteen draft articles on the law of transboundary aquifers. The draft articles were then deferred to the UN General Assembly, which adopted Resolution A/RES/63/124 including the draft articles in annex. In the Resolution, the UN GA “encourages the States concerned to make appropriate bilateral or regional arrangements for the proper management of their transboundary aquifers, taking into account the provisions of these draft articles”.The paper will go through the main principles codified in the draft articles. The UN ILC had benefited from a unique cooperation on the science of hydrogeology from UNESCO’s International Hydrological Program; hence it considered and covered issues of main importance for hydrogeologists.

The Work of The International Law Commission on “Relations between States and International Organizations” Discontinued: an Assessment

1993 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter H.F. Bekker
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The UN General Assembly has recently decided to delete from the agenda of the International Law Commission the topic ‘Relations between States and International Organizations’.Over a period of 31 years, fourteen Reports by two successive Special Rapporteurs studied the topic in two parts. The First part of the topic (1963–1975) dealt with the privileges and immunities of representatives of states to international organizations, and resulted in a Convention, that has, however, not yet entered into force; the Second part of the topic (1976–1992) concentrated on the legal status and immunities of organizations themselves.The author analyzes the Draft Articles that have been submitted in the course of the ILC's study of the Second part. This is done by way of a three-step application of the functional necessity concept of organizational immunities:(1) Status, dealing with an organization's functions, legal personality and capacity-(2) Selection, defining a scale of organizational immunities for which an organization may be eligible - and (3) Scope, determining the extent of selected immunities. Finally, the author employs the two statutory functions of the ILC -the codification of international law and the progressive development of international law- to assess the contribution by the ILC to this field of international institutional law.

Past, Present and Future of the International Law of Transboundary Aquifers

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Mechlem
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Water Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Law ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
The Way

AbstractThe article discusses the development of international groundwater law from the first codification efforts of modern water law until present and raises relevant issues for the way forward. It first traces international groundwater law from the 1960s until the end of the last century. It then reviews the growing attention groundwater has received during the last decade and third discusses the status quo. It places particular emphasis on the 2008 Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers adopted by the International Law Commission and the legal arrangements made for five of the 273 transboundary aquifers. It concludes with thoughts on the way forward in this important and understudied area of international law.

General Principles of Law: The First Debate within the International Law Commission and the Sixth Committee

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-172
Author(s):  
Marcelo Vázquez-Bermúdez ◽  
Alfredo Crosato
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Present Article ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
General Principles Of Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Law Commission

Abstract Continuing its work on the sources of international law, the International Law Commission decided, at its seventieth session, to include the topic “General principles of law” in its current programme of work. By taking up the topic, the Commission aims to shed light on various aspects of this source and provide guidance to States, international organizations, courts and tribunals and all others that may be called upon to deal with general principles of law. The present article provides an overview of the first debate on the topic that took place within the International Law Commission and the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the UN General Assembly in 2019, focusing on certain key issues that will be central to the treatment of the topic.

The Thirty-Fifth Session of the International Law Commission

1984 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C. McCaffrey
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Draft Code ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Liability ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The 35th session of the International Law Commission was held in Geneva from May 3 to July 22, 1983 under the chairmanship of Ambassador Laurel Francis. The Commission considered all seven substantive items on its agenda: state responsibility; jurisdictional immunities of states and their property; status of the diplomatic courier and the diplomatic bag not accompanied by diplomatic courier; the Draft Code of Offences against the Peace and Security of Mankind; the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses; international liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law; and relations between states and international organizations (second part of the topic). The Drafting Committee, which met a record 30 times, reported out a total of 15 articles concerning three of the above topics (jurisdictional immunities, state responsibility and the diplomatic courier and bag), all of which were provisionally adopted by the Commission. The entire session is dealt with in some detail in the Commission’s 1983 report to the General Assembly. Only the highlights will be covered here.

scholarly journals The International Law Commission Adopts Draft Articles on Transboundary Aquifers

2009 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C. McCaffrey
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission

At its 2008 session the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) completed work on a set of nineteen draft articles on the law of transboundary aquifers and transmitted the draft to the General Assembly. The ILC recommended that the Assembly take note of the draft articles and at a later stage consider the elaboration of a convention based upon them.

scholarly journals The International Law Commission Adopts Draft Articles on International Watercourses

1995 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C. McCaffrey
Keyword(s):  
Ground Water ◽  
International Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
International Conference ◽  
Complete Set ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

At its 1994 session, the International Law Commission (ILC) completed the final adoption (“second reading”) of a complete set of thirty-three draft articles on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses, together with a resolution on transboundary confined ground water. The Commission submitted the draft articles and the resolution to the General Assembly and recommended that a convention on international watercourses be elaborated by the Assembly or by an international conference of plenipotentiaries on the basis of the Commission’s draft.

The Geneva Conference on the Law of the Sea and the Right of Innocent Passage through the Gulf of Aqaba

1959 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 564-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Gross
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Gulf Of Aqaba ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Geneva Conference ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

Since the United Nations Emergency Force moved in and occupied the heights overlooking the Straits of Tiran, the Gulf of Aqaba has been quiet. Ships, including Israel flag ships, move freely in and out. The right of passage claimed by Israel and other states was discussed in the Security Council in 1954, in the International Law Commission in 1956, in the General Assembly in 1956-57, and again at the Geneva Conference on the Law of the Sea February 24-April 27, 1958, and will be analyzed here. It should be stated at the outset that Israel's boundaries, including the strip at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba, are not an issue here. Nor is the Arab claim that a state of war continues to exist pertinent in determining the legal status of the Gulf and the Straits, although it obviously has some bearing on the availability to Israel of the right of “innocent” passage.

Immunity of International Organizations

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 276-286
Author(s):  
Johan G. Lammers
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

In December 1958, the General Assembly invited the International Law Commission to consider the question of relations between states and intergovernmental international organizations after undertaking a study of diplomatic intercourse and immunities, consular intercourse and immunities and ad hoc diplomacy. This paper presents a brief overview of the work of the ilc over a period of 30 years, which was led by two Special Rapporteurs: Abdullah El-Erian (1962–1979); and Leonardo Díaz González (1979–1992). In 1992, the ilc decided to discontinue its work on this topic: this paper will outline the main reasons given by the ilc for this decision, and draw some conclusions from the work of the ilc in this area.

scholarly journals The Expulsion of Aliens and Other Topics: The Sixty-Fourth Session of the International Law Commission

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean D. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
First Year ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Fourth Session ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission

The International Law Commission held its sixty-fourth session in Geneva from May 7 to June 1, and from July 2 to August 3, 2012, under the chairmanship of Lucius Caflisch. The session marked the first year of a new quinquennium (2012–2016), with the Commission having completed its work during the prior quinquennium (2007–2011) on four major topics: transboundary aquifers, effects of armed conflict on treaties, reservations to treaties, and responsibility of international organizations.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document