Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its 74th Session

A/RES/78/108No PDF available

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A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 79Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its 73rd and 74th sessions, published in 2023.

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27 versions · 1953–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/164

2025A/RES/80/164Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its 76th sessionLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/RES/79/121Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its 75th sessionCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/108Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its 74th sessionCompare with previous version
2019A/RES/73/265Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its 70th sessionCompare with previous version
2017A/RES/72/116Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its 69th sessionCompare with previous version

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4 topics

Documents International Law International Law Codification Publications

What does this mandate say?

47 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventy-fourth session;

Expresses its appreciation to the International Law Commission for the work accomplished at its seventy-fourth session, and notes in particular the completion of the first reading of the draft conclusions on general principles of law and the commentaries thereto;

Recommends that the International Law Commission continue its work on the topics in its current programme of work, taking into account the comments and observations of Governments, whether submitted in writing or expressed orally in debates in the Sixth Committee;

Draws the attention of Governments to the importance for the International Law Commission of having their views on the various aspects of the topics on the agenda of the Commission, in particular on all the specific issues identified in chapter III of its report, regarding:

Prevention and repression of piracy and armed robbery at sea;

Subsidiary means for the determination of rules of international law;

Sea-level rise in relation to international law;

Also draws the attention of Governments to the importance for the International Law Commission of having their comments and observations by 1 December 2024 on the draft conclusions on general principles of law;

Further draws the attention of Governments to the importance that the International Law Commission attaches to receiving their comments and observations on the topic “Immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction” ahead of its second reading;

Takes note of the decision of the International Law Commission to include the topic “Non-legally binding international agreements” in its programme of work, and encourages the Commission to continue the examination of the topics that are in its long-term programme of work;

Encourages the International Law Commission to take particular account of the capacity and views of Member States, as well as of the workload of the Commission, when including topics in its current programme of work;

Takes note with appreciation of the recommendation of the International Law Commission, contained in paragraphs 275 and 276 of its report, regarding the commemoration of its seventy-fifth anniversary, and encourages States, in association with regional organizations, professional associations, academic institutions and members of the Commission concerned, to convene national or regional meetings, which would be dedicated to the work of the Commission;

Takes note of paragraph 277 of the report of the International Law Commission, and requests the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to identify concrete options for support for the work of special rapporteurs, additional to those provided under General Assembly resolution 56/272 of 27 March 2002;

Welcomes the efforts of the International Law Commission to improve its methods of work, and encourages the Commission to continue this practice;

Invites the International Law Commission to continue to take measures to enhance its efficiency and productivity and to consider making proposals to Member States to that end;

Recalls the importance of an in-depth analysis of State practice and the consideration of the diversity of legal systems of Member States to the work of the International Law Commission;

Takes note of paragraph 283 of the report of the International Law Commission, recalls the paramount importance of multilingualism as set forth in General Assembly resolution 76/268 of 10 June 2022 on multilingualism, underlines the importance of having the documents of the Commission published in due time in the six official languages of the United Nations while ensuring their accuracy in all official languages, and to this end requests special rapporteurs to submit their reports within the time limits specified by the Secretariat, and the Secretariat to give due consideration to the quality of the translation of the documents of the Commission in the six official languages;

Encourages the International Law Commission to continue to take cost-saving measures at its future sessions, without prejudice to the efficiency and effectiveness of its work;

Recalls that the seat of the International Law Commission is at the United Nations Office at Geneva;

Takes note of paragraph 291 of the report of the International Law Commission, and decides that the next session of the Commission shall be held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 15 April to 31 May 2024, which will coincide with the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Commission, and from 1 July to 2 August 2024;

Also takes note of paragraph 291 of the report of the International Law Commission, and endorses the request of the Commission that the Secretariat proceed with the necessary administrative and organizational arrangements to facilitate the holding of the first part of the seventy-seventh session of the Commission in New York;

Stresses the desirability of further enhancing the dialogue between the International Law Commission, in particular the special rapporteurs, and the Sixth Committee, and in this context encourages, inter alia, the continued practice of informal consultations in the form of discussions between the members of the Sixth Committee and the members of the Commission throughout the year;

Encourages delegations, during the debate on the report of the International Law Commission, to continue to adhere as far as possible to the structured work programme agreed to by the Sixth Committee and to consider presenting concise and focused statements;

Encourages Member States to consider being represented at the level of legal adviser during the first week in which the report of the International Law Commission is discussed in the Sixth Committee (International Law Week) to enable high-level discussions on issues of international law;

Underlines in this regard the necessity to allow sufficient time for the consideration of the report of the International Law Commission in the Sixth Committee;

Requests the International Law Commission to continue to pay special attention to indicating in its annual report, for each topic, any specific issues on which expressions of views by Governments, either in the Sixth Committee or in written form, would be of particular interest in providing effective guidance for the Commission in its further work;

Takes note of paragraphs 293 to 298 of the report of the International Law Commission with regard to cooperation and interaction with other bodies, and encourages the Commission to continue the implementation of articles 16 (e), 25 and 26 of its statute in order to further strengthen cooperation between the Commission and other bodies concerned with international law, having in mind the usefulness of such cooperation;

Notes that consulting with national organizations and individual experts concerned with international law may assist Governments in considering whether to make comments and observations on drafts submitted by the International Law Commission and in formulating their comments and observations;

Reaffirms its previous decisions concerning the indispensable role of the Codification Division of the Office of Legal Affairs of the Secretariat in providing assistance to the International Law Commission, including in the preparation of memorandums and studies on topics on the agenda of the Commission;

Also reaffirms its previous decisions concerning the documentation and summary records of the International Law Commission;

Takes note of paragraph 281 of the report of the International Law Commission, stresses the need to expedite the preparation of the summary records of the International Law Commission, welcomes the continuation of the measures taken to streamline the processing of summary records during the sixty-fifth session of the Commission, which have led to a more rational use of resources, and expresses its satisfaction that the summary records of the Commission, constituting travaux préparatoires in the progressive development and codification of international law, will not be subject to arbitrary length restrictions;

Welcomes the institutionalization of the practice of the Secretariat to include on the website of the International Law Commission the provisional summary records in English and French relating to the work of the Commission;

Also welcomes the efforts of the Secretariat in seeking to ensure the timely and efficient processing of the documents of the International Law Commission and the institutionalization of the experimental measures taken during the sixty-eighth session of the Commission to streamline the editing of those documents;

Takes note of paragraph 280 of the report of the International Law Commission, and underlines the importance of the publications of the Codification Division to the work of the Commission, welcomes in particular the issuance of the tenth edition of The Work of the International Law Commission in Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish and of volume 26 of the United Nations Legislative Series entitled Materials on the Provisional Application of Treaties, and reiterates its request that the Secretary-General continue to publish The Work of the International Law Commission in all six official languages at the beginning of each quinquennium, the Reports of International Arbitral Awards in English or French and the Summaries of the Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders of the International Court of Justice in all six official languages every five years;

Also takes note of paragraph 284 of the report of the International Law Commission, expresses its appreciation to the United Nations Library at Geneva for the dedicated assistance accorded to the Commission, and notes the Commission’s emphasis on the need for adequate funding to ensure the continuation of the Library’s ability to function as a research library to assist the Commission in the performance of its mandate in the codification and progressive development of international law;

Further takes note of paragraph 285 of the report of the International Law Commission, stresses the unique value of the Yearbook of the International Law Commission, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure its timely publication in all official languages;

Expresses its appreciation to Governments that have made voluntary contributions to the trust fund on the backlog relating to the Yearbook of the International Law Commission, and encourages further contributions to the trust fund;

Takes note of paragraph 286 of the report of the International Law Commission, expresses its satisfaction with the remarkable progress achieved in the past few years in reducing the backlog of the Yearbook of the International Law Commission in all six languages, welcomes the efforts made by the Division of Conference Management of the United Nations Office at Geneva, especially its Editing Section, in effectively implementing relevant resolutions of the General Assembly calling for the reduction of the backlog, encourages that Division to provide continuous necessary support to the Editing Section in advancing the Yearbook of the International Law Commission, and requests that updates on progress made in this respect be provided to the Commission on a regular basis;

Welcomes the continuous efforts of the Codification Division to maintain and improve the website relating to the work of the International Law Commission;

Takes note of paragraph 287 of the report of the International Law Commission and expresses its appreciation for contributions made to date to the trust fund to receive voluntary contributions for assistance to Special Rapporteurs of the International Law Commission or Chairs of its Study Groups and matters ancillary thereto, and invites further contributions to the trust fund, in accordance with the terms of the trust fund, including the need for the financial contributions not to be earmarked for any specific activity of the International Law Commission, its Special Rapporteurs or Chairs of its Study Groups;

Expresses the hope that the International Law Seminar will continue to be held in connection with the sessions of the International Law Commission and that an increasing number of participants representing the principal legal systems of the world and from different countries in the various regions, including in particular those from developing countries, will be given the opportunity to attend the Seminar, as well as delegates to the Sixth Committee, and appeals to States to continue to make urgently needed voluntary contributions to the United Nations trust fund for the International Law Seminar;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide the International Law Seminar with adequate services, including interpretation, as required, and encourages him to continue to consider ways to improve the structure and content of the Seminar;

Underlines the importance of the records and topical summary of the debate in the Sixth Committee for the deliberations of the International Law Commission, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to forward to the Commission, for its attention, the records of the debate on the report of the Commission, together with such written statements as delegations may circulate in conjunction with their oral statements, and to prepare and distribute a topical summary of the debate, following established practice;

Requests the Secretariat to circulate to States, as soon as possible after the conclusion of the session of the International Law Commission, chapter II of its report containing a summary of the work of that session, chapter III containing the specific issues on which the views of Governments would be of particular interest to the Commission and any draft provisions adopted on either first or second reading by the Commission;

Also requests the Secretariat to make the complete report of the International Law Commission available as soon as possible after the conclusion of the session of the Commission for the consideration of Member States with due anticipation and no later than the prescribed time limit for reports in the General Assembly;

Encourages the International Law Commission to continue to consider ways in which specific issues on which the views of Governments would be of particular interest to the Commission could be framed so as to help Governments to have a better appreciation of the issues on which responses are required;

Recommends that the debate on the report of the International Law Commission at the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly commence on 21 October 2024.

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