Establishment of an International Law Commission

A/RES/174(II)View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, published in 1947.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

2 entities

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Programme 1	General assembly and economic and social council affairs and conference management	52
	Subprogramme 3	Progressive development and codification of international law	18

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

2 entities

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Programme 1	General assembly and economic and social council affairs and conference management	52	—
	Subprogramme 3	Progressive development and codification of international law	18	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Election of Members Establishment International Law Codification Terms of Reference

What’s in this document?

38 operative paragraphs

This extracted fulltext may contain errors or omissions. Please check the source document.

Recognizing the desirability of establishing a commission composed of persons of recognized competence in intemational law and represcnting as a whole the chief forms of civilization and the basic legal systems of the world,

Resolves to establish an "lnternational Law Commission", the members of which shall be elected at the third regular scssion of the General _.\ssembly, ancl which shall be constituted and shall exercise its functions in accordance with the provisions of the annexed statute.

Hundred and twenty-thírd plenary meeting,

21 November 1947.

STATUTE OF THE JNTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION Article 1 l. The lnternational Law Commission shall have for its object the promotion of the progressiw developmcnt of international law and its rndification.

2. The Commis~ion shall concern itself primarily with public international law, but is not precluded from entering the field of prívate international law.

LAw CoMMISSION Article 2 I. The Commission shall consist of fifteen membcrs who shall be persons of recognizcd competern·t~ in international law.

1 Sce document A/33 l.

'See Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly during the second part of its first session, page 187. para~raphe .¡. de l' Artide 62 de la Charte, a fin que cctte réglementation puisse ctre étudiéc au cours de la troisit"me session de l' Assemblée gfoéra lc.

Cent-dix-huitieme séance pléniere.

le 17 noi·embre 1947.

174 Ull. Création d'une Commission d•J droit international L' Assemblée générale,

Reconnaissant la néressité de donner elTct ;, l'Article 13, paragraphc 1, sous-paragraphc a, ck la Charte, stipulant que l' Asscmblée généralc en vuc d'cncouragcr le cléYcloppcment progrcssif du droit intcrnational et sa codiíiration;

.lr,rnl /tudié le rapport' de la Commiosi011 chargéc par la r(-solution 94 ( I)" de l' Asscmblfr généralc du 11 déccrnbrc 1946 d'étudier:

a) Les méthodes par Icsq u clics l' Asscmblée générale dcvrait favorist"r le dévcloppcment progrcssif du droit intcrn:itional et sa codification ultérieure;

b) Des méthodes pcrmcttant de s'assurcr a Nations Unics;

e) Des méthodcs pcrmettant ele s'assurer le concours d'organismcs nationaux et internationaux susceptibles d'aidcr a atteindre ce but;

Reconnaissant l'utilité de créer une commission composée de personncs possédant une compétencc reconnue en droit intcrnational et dont }'ensemble assure la représentation des formes principales de civilisation et des principaux systemes de droit,

Décide de créer une "Commission du droit introisicme session ordinaire de l' Assemblée généconformémcnt aux dispositions <lu statut annexé.

Cent-vingt-troisieme séance pléniere,

le 21 novembre 1947. STATUT DE LA C:Ol\Hv1ISSION DU DROIT INTERNA'l'IONAL Arride premicr

La Commission du droit intcrnational a po11r but de promouvoir 11' développement progrcssif du droit intcrnational et sa codification.

Elle s'occupcra au prt·mier chef du droit international publir, sans qu'il lui soit interdit dl' privé.

Article 2 I. La Cornmission se composc de quinze membres, possédant une compétence reconnue en m:-:- tiere de droit international.

'Voir le document A/331.

'Voir les Résolutions adoptées par l'Assemblée généra/e prndant la seconde partic de sa premicre session, pages 187-188.

No two members of the Commission shall be nationals of the same State.

In case of dual nationality a candidate shall be deemed to be a national of the State in which he ordinarily exercises civil and political rights.

Article 3 The members of the Commission shall be electcd by the General Assembly from a list of candidatcs nominatcd by the Governmcnts of States Mcmbcrs of the Unitcd Nations.

Article 4 Each Member may nominate for election not more than four candidates, of whom two may be nationals of the nominating State and two nationals of othcr Statcs.

Article 5 The n::rnes of the cmdidates ,hall be submitted, in writing by the Governments to the Seerctary- General by 1 June of the year in which an election is held, provided that a Government may in exeeptional circumstanees substitute for a eandidate whom it has nominatcd befare 1 JunP another candidate whom it shall name not later than thirty days befare the opening of thc General Asscmbly.

Article 6 The Secretary-General shall as soon as possible communicate to the Governments of States Members the names submitted, as well as any curricula vitae of candidates that may havc been submitted by the nominating Governments.

Article 7 The Seeretary-General shall prepare the list referred to in article 3 above, comprising in alphabetical order the names of ali the candidates duly nominated, and shall submit this list to the General Assembly for the purposcs of the clcetion.

Article 8 At the election the electors shall bear in rnind that the persons to be elected to the Commission should individually possess the qualifications required and that in the Commission as a whok representation of the main forms of civilization ancl of the principal legal systems of th,· world should be assured.

Article 9

The fifteen candidates who obtain the greatest number of votes and at least a majority of the votes of the Members present and voting shall be elected.

In the event of more than one national of th,· same State obtaining :! sufficient number of votes for election, the one who obtains thc greatest nurnber of votes shall be electcd, and, if the votes anequally divided, the dder or cldcst c:rn<lidatc ,hall be elccted.

Articlc JO The mcmbers of the Commission shall be dectc<l for three years. Thev shall bt' digihlt- for IT-ckction.

Article 11 In the case of a vacancy, the Commission itself shall fill the vacancy having due regard to thc provisions contained in articles 2 and 8 above.

Elle ne peut comprl'ndrc plus d'un rc,sortissant cl'un meme Etat.

En cas de cloubk nationalité, un can<lidat sera considén~ cornme ayant la nationalitt'. du pays dam lt-qucl il cxL-rce ordinairemcnt ses droits civils et poli tiques.

Articlc 3

l'Asscmhlfr g,:nérale sur une liste de candidats prt'scnt(s par ks Gouvcrnements des Etats !lfr111- hrcs dt'. l'Organisation des Nations U nit·s.

Article 4 Chaque Memhre peut préscnter quatre candidats au plus, dont deux pcuvent ctre ressortissants dt· rcssortissants d'autres Etats.

Article 5 J ,cs noms des candidats doivent étre commutaire général avant le lcr juin de l'année au cours Je !aquel le l'élection a lieu; toutefois un Gouverncrncnt peut, dans des cas exceptionnels, substitucr a un candidat qu'il avait présenté avant le In juin un autn· candidat d(úgné au Dlus tan! trente jours ;1vant l'ouvcrturc dc,l'Assernl;l(·r généra!t-.

Article 6 Le Secrétaire général transmet aussití'>t que

vernement qui les présente.

Article 7 Le St'crétaire général dresse, par ordre alphabétique, la liste prévue a l'article 3 ci-dessus de tous la soumct a lrs candidats dument préscntés d l'Assemblée génrralc aux fins de l'é·lection.

Article 8 pcrsonnes appelées a faire partie de la Commission réunissent individuellement les conditions requis,~s, grandes formes de civilisation et des principaux systernes juridiques du monde soit assurée.

Article 9

jorité des voix dc-s l\frmhn·s présents et votants.

Au cas ou plusienrs !Tssortissants d'un meme Etat obtiendraient suffisarnment de voix pour etre élus, celui qui a obtenu le plus de voix sera élu, et au cas oú il y aurait partage égal des voix, k candidat k plus agé sera élu.

Article JO

trois ans; ils sont rééligiblcs.

Artir:le l l En cas de vacancc survenant apres élection, la Cornmission pourvoit elle-memc au siege vaeant, en tenant compte des dispositions contenues dans les articles 2 et 8 d-dessus.

Thc Commission shall sit at thc hcadquartcrs of thc United Nations. The Commission shall, however, have the right to hold meetings at othcr places after consultation with the Secretary-Gencral.

Article 13 Members of the Commission shall be paid travel expenses and shall also receive a per diem allowance at the same rate as the allowance paid to members of commissions of experts of the Economic and Social Council.

Article 14 The Secretary-General shall, so far as he is able, make available staff and facilities required by thc Commission to fulfil its task.

CHAPTER 11. FUNCTIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAw CoMMISSION Article 15 In the following articles the expression "progressive development of international law" is used for convenience as meaning thc preparation of draft conventiom on subjects which have not yet been regulated by intcrnational law or in regard to which the law has not yet been sufficiently developed in the practice of States. Similarly, the expression "codification of intcmational law" is used for convenience as meaning the more precise formulation and systematization of rules of international law in fields where there already has heen extensive state practice, precedent and doctrine.

A. Progressive dcvcloprnent of international law Article 16 When the General Assembly refers to the Commission a proposal for the progressive development of international law, the Commission shall follow in general a procedure on the following lines:

It shall appoint one of its mernbers to be Rapporteur;

( b) I t shall formula te a plan of work;

It shall circulate a questionnaire to the Governments, and shall invite them to supply, within a fixed period of time, data and information rclevant to items included in the plan of work;

It may appoint sorne of its members to work with the Rapporteur on the preparation of drafts pending receipt of replies to this questionnairc;

It may consult with scientifie institutions and individual experts; these expcrts nced not necessarily be nationals of Members of the United Nations. The Sccretary-General will provide, when necessary and within the limits of the budget, for the expenses of these consultations of experts;

It shall consider the drafts proposed by the Rapportcur;

When the Commission considers a draft to be satisfactory, it shall request the Secretary-Gcneral to issue it as a Commission document. The Secretariat shall give ali necessary publicity to this document which shall be accompanied by such La Commission a son siege au siege de l'Orgade se réunir en d'autres endroits, apres consultation avec le Secrétaire général.

Article 13

frais de voyage et, de plus, une indemnité journaliere semblable a l'indemnité payée aux membrcs des commissions d'experts servant le Conscil économique et social.

Article 14 Le Secrétaire général mettra, autant qu'il lui

besoin pour accomplir sa tache.

CttAPITRE II. TACHE DE LA CoMMISSION ou

Article 15

loppement progressif du droit international" est

international ou rclativ<'ment auxquel, lP droit n'est pas cncore suffisamment développé dans la pratique des Etats. De meme, l'cxpression "codification du droit international" cst cmployée, lJOur formuler avcc plus de précision et de systématiser dans lcsque\s il existe déja une pratique étatique trinales.

A.

Dévcloppement progressif du droit international Article 16 Lorsque l' Assemblée générale renvoie a la Commission une proposition concernant le développement progressif du droit international, la Comsuivante:

a) Elle désigue un Rapporteur parrni ses mcmbres;

b) Elle établit un plan de travail;

e) Elle adresse un questionnairc aux Gouverne-

m,~nt, Sl' r;1pportant aux suj,·t-- fi,gurant d,rns k plan de travail; rnembrcs chargés de travailler avec le Rapporteur a la préparation d'avant-projets, en attendant les réponses a son questionnaire;

devront pas nécessairement etre des rt"ssortissants de Membres de I'Organisation des Nations Unies. Le Secrétaire général pourvoit, lorsque c'est néconsultations d'experts;

f!.) Lorsqu'elle estime qu'un projet est satisfai-

tariat donnera a ce document la publicité nécessaire et y joindra telles explications et pieces a

, ':¡,la11ations ami supporting m:1tnial as the Com- 111ission considcrs appmpriate. · !lw publication shal! includc any information supplied to the Cornmis- .,ion in rcply to thc qucstionnairc rcfcrrcd to in ,ub-paragraph (e) ahovc;

( h) The Commi,sion shall invite thl' Governmt•nts to submit thcir commcnts on this dol'umcnt within a reasonablc tinw:

The Rapportcur· ::rnd thc membcr, appointed for that purposl' shall rcconsidcr the draft,

taking into considcration the,e counncnts, and s~all prepare a final draft ,tnd expbnato1y rl'port wh1ch , they shall subrnit for cou,idnation and adoption 1 hv the Commission; ' (j) The Comrnission .,hall submit the draft so

adopted with its reconunl'ndations through the Sccretary-General to the General Assembly.

A1ticle 17 l. The Commission shall also considcr proposals and draft multilateral convcntiom submittt>d by .:Vlembers of thc Unitcd Nations, thc prinl'ipal organs of the U nited Nations other than 'thc General '.\ssembly, specializcd agt"ncics, or official bodies established by inter-governmental agreement to encourage the progrcssi\'e development of international law and its codification, and transmitted to it for that purpose by the S,·cretary-Gcneral.

If in such cases the Commis,ion deems it appropriate to procecd with the study of such proposals or drafts, it shall follow in general prpcedure on the following lines:

The Comrnission shall formula te a plan of work, and study wch proposals or drafts and compare them with ;iny other proposals and drafts on the same subjects;

( b) The Commissio11 shall circula te a qucstionnairc to ali Membcrs of the United Nations and to the organs, specializcd agencies and official bodies rne:itioned above which are concerned with the question, and shall invite them to transmit their comments within a reamnable time;

The Commission shall submit a report and its recommcndations to the General Assembly. Bedoing so, it may also, if it deems it desirable, make an interim report to the organ or agency which has submitted thr proposal or draft;

( d) If thc General As.,embly should invite thc Commission to procced \1 ith its work in acrordance with a suggestcd plan, thc procedure outlined in articlc 16 above shall apply. The questionnairc referred to in paragraph (e) o[ that articlc may not, howcver, be neccssary.

B. Codification of intcrnational law Article 18 l. The Commission shall survey the whole field of international law with a view to selecting topics for codification, having in mind existing drafts, whether governmental or not.

When the Commission considers that the codification of a particular topic is necessary and desirablc, it shall submit its recommendations to the General Assembly.

The Commission ~hall give priority to requests of the General Assembly to deal with any question.

Article 19

1. The Commission shall adopt a plan of work :ippropriate to each case. .. 2. The Commission shall, through the Secretary- C,·ueral, address to Governments a detailed request !'appui que la Commissio11 jugcra apprupri('.-t·s. Li publication doit romprendrc ks infon11ations fourni<·s a la Commission en réponsr au questiL11main· 111entionné au sous-paragraplw e) ci-clt-ssus:

lt) Elle invite les Gouvcrnemcnts a prés,·n1c1. dans un délai raisonnable, leurs obscrvatio11., ,11r e,· dorument:

i) Le Rapporü·ur et ks mcmbres désignc:~ a cd c-fft·t réexaminent k projet a la lU1uiere de (T,, ob,wrvations et élaborcnt le texte final de re projet :l\TC rapport cxpliratif, qu'ils soumcttent pour :,doption a l'exa111en de la Cornmission:

tions ;1 l'Assemhlfr générale.

Articlc 17

projets de ronventions mutilatérales émanant de Membrcs des Nations Unics, d'organes principaux ele l'Organisation des Nations U nies autres ,¡1w l'Assemblée généralc, d'institutions spécialiséc, ou d'organisations officielles établics par accords i11- tngouvernementaux en vue d'encourager le dévcloppement progrcssif du droit international et sa codification, qut> lui transmet a cet effet le Secrétaire général.

Si, en de tels cas, elle juge utile de poursuivrc grandes lignes, la procédure ci-dessous:

a) Elle établit un plan de travail, étudie lesdits ou projets se rapportant aux rnemes sujcts;

Mcmbres de l'Organisation des Nations Unics et :mx organes, institutions spécialisées et organisations officielles spécifiés ci-dessus qui sont intéressés ohst>rvations dans un délai raisonnable; tions a l' Assemblée générale. Elle peut aussi, si clic le juge désirable, faire, avant cela, un rapport intérimaire a l'organe ou l'institution dont émane le plan ou le projet;

d) Si l'Assemblée générale invite la Commission a poursuivrc ses travaux selon un plan proposé, la prorédure décrite a l'article 16 est applicable. 11 st· peut toutefois que le questionnaire mentionné au paragraphe e) du dit article soit inutilc.

B.

Codification du droit intcrnational Article 18 l. La Commission recherche, dans !'ensemble du droit international, les sujets appropriés de codification, en tenant compte des projets existants, qu'ils soient d'origine gouvernementale ou non.

Lorsqu'elle juge la codüication d'un sujct nécessaire ou désirable, elle soumet ses recomrnandations a l' Assemblée générale.

Elle donne priorité a toute demande de l' Assemblée générale de traiter une question.

Article 19

plan de travail qui lui parait approprié . gfoéral aux Gouvemements pour lcur demander,

:t\TC toute L1 précision nécessaire, de lui fournir les to furnish the texts of laws, dccrees, judicial dcci- ~ions, trcaties, diplomatic correspondcnce and other textes dt· lois. décrcts, décisions judiciaircs, traités,

cnrrespondancc diplomatique et autrrs documents documents relevant to thc topic hcing studied and which thc Commission decm~ neccssary.

h,·,oin.

Article 20 Articlc 20 Thc Commission shall preµarc its draft, in the form of articlcs and shall submit thcm to the Genle, soumct á I' Asscmblée génrrale a ver un comeral Assembly togcther with a commentary connwntain· comprcnant: taining:

Adcquatc prcsentation of precedents and a) Um· préscntation adéquate des précédents et other relevant data, including treaties, judicial autres données pertinentes y compris les traités, les décisions judiciaires et la doctrine; decisions and doctrine;

( b) Conclusions defining:

b) Des condusions précisant:

The extent of agreement on cach point m i) L'étendue de l'accord réalisé sur chaqu~· the practice of Sta tes and in doctrine;

( ii) Divcrgencies and disagrcements which cxist, as well as arguments invoked in favour of one or :1insi que les arguments invoqués en faveur de ch:icune des theses. another solution.

Article 21 Article 21 t. Whcn the Commission considers a draft to be

Lorsque la Commission estime qu'un projet satisfactory, it shall request the Secretary-General est satisfaisant, l'lle prie le Secrétaire général de le to issue it as a Commission document. The Secrepublier en tant que document de la Commission.

Lt· Secrétariat donnera a ce document la publicité tariat shall give ali necessary publicity to the document, including such explanations and supporting nécessaire et y joindra telles explications et pieces a l'appui que la Commission jugera appropriées. material as the Commission may consider appropriate. The publication shall include any informa- La publication doit comprendre les informations tion supplied to the Commission by Governments in accordance with article 19. The Commission rn vcrtu de l'article 19. La Commission décide si shall decide whether the opinions of any scientific institution or individual experts consulted by the Commission shall be included in the publication.

mission doivcnt etre cornprises dans la publication.

Thc Commission shall rcquest Governments

2. La Commission demande aux Gouvernements to submit comments on this document within a de lui faire connaitre, dans un délai raisonnable, reasonable time.

leurs observations sur ce document.

Article 22 Article 22

Taking such comments into consideration, the Commission shall prepare a final draft and explanatory report, which it shall submit with its explicatif qu'clle soumet avec ,es recommandations a ,l'~ssPmblfr ~énérale par l'cntremise du Secrétairc recommendations through the Secretary-General to the General Assembly.

general.

Article 23 Article 23

La Commission peut recommander a l' Asseml. The Commission may recommend to the General Assembly:

bléc générak:

To take no action, the report having ala) De n'entrcprendrL' aucunc action, le rapport ready been published;

ayant été pub lié;

( b) To take note of or adopt the report by resob) De prendrc acte du rapport, ou de l'adopter lution;

dans une résolution;

To recommend the draft to Members with e) De rccommander k projet aux Mernbres en a view to the conclusion of a convcntion;

vu,· de la conclusion d'une convention;

To convoke a conference to conclude a rond) De convoquc-r une conférence pour condure vention.

une convcntion.

Whenever it deems it desirable, the General

Chaque fois qu'elle le juge utile, l'Assemblée Assembly may refer drafts back to the Commission for reconsideration or redrafting.

fins de rfrxamcn ou de nouvclle rédaction.

Article 24 Article 24 The Commission shall consider ways and means for rnaking the evidence of customary international de rendre plus accessible la documentation relative au droit international coutumier, par exemple la law more readily available, such as the collection and publication of documents concerning State compilation et la publication de documents établispractice and of the decisions of national and international courts on questions of international law,

tions de droit international, et elle fait rapport a and shall rnake a report to the General Assembly on this matter.

1' Assemblée générale sur ce su jet. CHAPTER JII. Co-OPERATION WITII OTHER BODIES CHAPITRE III. CooPÉRATION AVEC D'AUTRES

Article 25 Article 25 l. The Commission may consult, if it considers l. La Commission peut consulter, lorsqu'elle le necessary, with any of the organs of the United juge utile, tout organe des Nations Unies sur tout

Nations on any subject which is within the competence of that organ.

Ali documents of the Commission which are circulated to Governments by the Secrctary-General shall also be circulated to such organs of the United Nations as are concerncd. Such organs may furnish any information or make any suggestions to the Commission.

Article 26 l. Thc Comrnission rnay consult with any international or national organizations, official or nonofficial, on any subject entrusted to it if it believes that such a procedure rnight aid it in the performance of its functions.

For the purpose of distribution of documents of the Commission, the Secretary-General, after consultation with the Comrnission, shall draw up a list of national and international organizations concerned with questions of intcrnational law. The Secretary-General shall endeavour to include on this list at least one national organization of each Member of the United Nations.

In the application of the provisions of this article, the Cornmission and the Secretary-General shall cornply with the resolutions of the General Assembly and the other principal organs of the Unitcd Nations conccrning relations with Franco Spain and shall cxclude both frorn consultations and frorn the list, organizations which have collaborated with the nazis and fascists.

The advisability of consultation by the Comrnission with inter-govcrnmental organizations whose task is thc codificatiou of international law, such as thosc of the Pan-American U nion, is recognized.

CHAPTER J. ÜRGANIZATION OF THE INTERNATIO;-.;AI.

CHAPITRE PREMIER. ÜRGANISATION DE LA COMMISSION DU DROIT INTERNATIONAL

DROIT INTERNATIONAL

OROANISMES

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

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What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

A.

B.

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Who cites this mandate in the budget?