Report of the International Law Commission

A/RES/41/81No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 130Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its 38th session, published in 1987.

What other versions does this mandate have?

22 versions · 1964–1988

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/42/156

1988A/RES/42/156Report of the International Law CommissionLatestCompare with previous version
1987A/RES/41/81Report of the International Law CommissionCompare with previous version
1986A/RES/40/75Report of the International Law CommissionCompare with previous version
1985A/RES/39/85Report of the International Law CommissionCompare with previous version
1984A/RES/38/138Report of the International Law CommissionCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

14 topics

Budget Contributions Conferences Cooperation Between Organizations Diplomatic Bags Diplomatic Couriers Documents International Law International Law Codification Meeting Records State Immunities State Property Treaties Work Organization Work Programme

What does this mandate say?

17 operative paragraphs

Decides to renew the mandate of the Ad Hoc Com mittee on the Drafting of an lnternat1onal Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Tram111g ol Mercenaries to enable it to continuc lis work nn the draft ingofan international co11vent1on agamst the recruitme11t use, financing and training of mercenarie,;

Requests the Ad Hoc CommJttee, 111 the fulfilment ot its mandate, to use the draft articles contamed in chapte1 V of its report on its fifth session, n entitled •·consolidated negotiating basis of a convention agamst the recruitment use, financing and training of rnercenaries". as a basis for future negotiation on t he tex t of t he prnposed m terna tional convention;

lnvites the Ad Hoc Committee to take mto account the suggestions and proposals of Mernber Sta tes submitted to the Secretary-General on the subJect and the views and comments expressed at the fortieth- 3 and forty-first 11 sessions of the General Assernbly during the debate m the Sixth Committee devoted tn 1he nrn-;ideration of the n· port of the Ad /loe Comm1tt('t';

lO See Ojjícial Record, o} 1/w (ier-erul 411e111/J/1

12 !bid .. Fortieth Sernon. Supplemenr Vo 43 (A140;4J)

33 /bid., Fortieth Se'"'"'· Snth C ,,nm111e,. 111h 1<1 17th. 4.i,h arid General Assembh---Fort}-first Session

Decides that the Ad Hoc Committee shall hold its ,1xth session for a peri<>d of three weeks. from 19 January o t-, February J9X7.

A/so decides that the Ad Hoc Committee shall acccpt the participation of observers of Member States, in- -.:1 uding participation in the meetings of its working grnups Requests the Secretary-General to provide, on a prit, ,mty basis, the Ad Hoc Cornmittee with any assistance and fanlities it may require to hold its sixth session in 1987;

Requests the Ad Hoc Committee to make every effort to fulfil the mandate entrusted to it by the General As- ~ernbly and to prnceed with ali deliberate speed with the drafting of a convention;

Decides to mclude in the provisional agenda of its forty-second sess1on the itern entitled "Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Drafting of an lnternational Convention against the Recruitrnent, Use, Financing and rraining of Mercenaries"_

95rh p/enary meeting

3 Decemher 1986

41 /81.

Report of the International Law Commission

/'he General Assembly,

f-laving rnnsidered the report of the lnternational Law ( ·ommission on t he work of its thirty-eighth session, 16

Emphasizing the need for the progressive development of international law and its codification in order to rnake it a more effective mea ns of implementing the purposes and prmciples set forth in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Declarat1on on Principies of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nat10ns28 ami to givc increased importance to its role in relat 1ons among States.

Recugnizing the 1mportance of referring legal and draft- 111g questions to the Sixth Committee, including topics 1 hat rn1ght be submitted to the International Law Comrmssion, and of enabling the Sixth Committee and the (\immission further tn enhance their contributions to the progressive developmenl of international law and its ,.., ,dification.

Recal/ing the need to keep under review those top1cs of mternational la\\ which, given their new or renewed in- 1erest for the contemporary international community. may be sullable for progressive development and codificat1nn ,if international law and therefore may be included 111 the future prograrnme of work of the International Law ( nm,msSHJll,

/'akes note of the report of the lnternational Law ',1mmiss1011 cm the work of its thirty-eighth session;

Expresses 11~ appreciation to the International Law ( ommission for the work accomplished at that session;

Recummends that, taking into account the cornments of Governments, whether in writing or expressed orally in debates in the General Assembly, the Internatinnal Law Comrnission should continue its work on the iopics in 1ts current prograrnrne;

Expresse.1· lis satisfaction with the conclusions and ,ntentions of the International Law Commission concern- 111g its procedure~ and methods of work. as reflected 111 paragraphs 250 10 261 of its report; 16 Y Reque.~ts the lnternational Law Cornrnission:

Te> consider thoroughly 1 a)

The planning of its activities for the term of office of its members, bearing in mind the desirability of achieving as much progress as possible in the preparation of draft articles on specific topics; (ii)

lts methods of work in all their aspects, bearing in mind the possibility of staggering the consideration of sorne topics; (b)

To indicate in its annual report those subjects and issues on which views expressed by Governments, either in the Sixth Committee or in written form, would be of particular interest for the continuation of its work;

Takes note of the comments of the International Law Commission on the question of the duration of its sessions, as presented in paragraph 252 of its report, and expresses the view that the requirements of the work of codification and progressive development of international law and the magnitude and complexity of the subjects on the agenda of the Commission make it desirable that the usual duration of its sessions34 be maintained;

Reaffirms its previous decisions concerning the increased role of the Codification Division of the Office of Legal Affairs of the Secretariat and those concerning the summary records and other documentation ofthe International Law Commission;

Urges Governments and, as appropriate, international organizations to respond in writing as fully and expeditiously as possible to the requests of the International Law Commission for comments, observations and replies to questionnaires and for materials on topics in its programme of work;

Further urges Governments to give full attention to the request of the International Law Commission, transmitted through the Secretary-General, for comments and observations on the draft articles on jurisdictional immunities ofStates and their property35 and on the status of the diplomatic courier and the diplomatic bag not accompanied by diplomatic courier,36 adopted on first reading by the Commission;

Reaffirms its wish that the International Law Commission continue to enhance its co-operation with intergovernmental legal bodies whose work is of interest for the progressive development of international law and its codification;

Expresses the wish that seminars will continue to be held in conjunction with sessions ofthe International Law Commission and that an increasing number of participants from developing countries will be given the opportunity to attend those seminars, and appeals to States that can do so to make the voluntary contributions that are urgently needed for the holding of the seminars;

Requests the Secretary-General to forward to the International Law Commission, for its attention, the records of the debate on the report of the Commission at the forty-first session of the General Assembly37 and to prepare and distribute a topical summary of the debate.

34 See resolution 331 S (XXIX), para. 5.

35 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Suft'ement No. JO (A/41/10), chap. 11, sect D.

Ib,d., chap. lll, sect. D.

37 /bid., Forty-first Session, Sixth Committee, 27th to 34th, 36th to 44th and 51st meetings and corrigendum.

Endorses the recommendations of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country contained in paragraph 87 of its report;38 2.

Strongly condemns any criminal acts violating the security ofmissions accredited to the United Nations and the safety of their personnel;

Urges the host country to take all necessary measures without delay to continue to prevent criminal acts, including harassment and violations of the security of missions and the safety of their personnel or infringements of the inviolability of their property, in order to ensure the existence and functioning of all missions, including practicable measures to prohibit illegal activities of persons, groups and organizations that encourage, instigate, organize or engage in the perpetration of acts and activities against the security and safety of such missions and representatives;

Urges the host country and the Member States that raised the issues in response to the request and to action by the host country to reduce the size of their missions to follow the path of consultations with a view to reaching solutions to this matter, in accordance with the Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations;40 5.

Stresses the importance of a positive perception of the work ofthe United Nations, expresses concern about a negative public image and, therefore, urges that efforts be continued to build up public awareness by explaining, through ali available means, the importance of the role played by the United Nations and the missions accredited to it in the strengthening of international peace and security;

38 /bid., Forty-first Session. Supplement No. 26 (A/41/26).

39 Resolution 22 A (1).

40 Resolution 169 (11).

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

Who created this mandate?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What does this mandate say?

Report of the International Law Commission

Table of contents