CYIL 2015

THE WORK OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION IN 2015, BUSINESS AS USUAL? THE WORK OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION IN 2015, BUSINESS AS USUAL?

Pavel Štu rma 1

1. Introduction and the organization of the sixty-seventh session of the ILC The International Law Commission is the United Nations body which has for its object the promotion of the progressive development of international law and its codification. The ILC consists of 34 members who shall be persons of recognized competence in international law, elected by the General Assembly for a term of five years. In 2015, the Commission has entered into the second part of its current term. This contribution aims at presenting the results of its work completed this year, as well as the on-going work and some new topics. As usual, the session of the Commission took part in Geneva and was split in two parts. The first part of the session (from 4 May till 5 June) was followed by a month break. Then the Commission resumed its session on 6 July; the second part lasted until 7 August 2015. At its first meeting on 4 May 2015 the Commission elected the Chairman of the ILC and other officers of the Bureau of the sixty-sixth session. 2 On some occasions they also meet in the Enlarged Bureau, including in particular the Special Rapporteurs and chairman of a Study Group. The Commission also set up a Planning Group under the chairmanship of Mr. Wako, during his absence chaired by Mr. Šturma. The ILC also established a Drafting Committee, which met this year for all seven topics where some draft articles or conclusions were sent to it: (a) Identification of customary international law; (b) Protection of the atmosphere; (c) Crimes against humanity; (d) Subsequent agreements and subsequent practice in relation to the interpretation of treaties; (e) Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts; (f ) Immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction; and (g) Provisional application of treaties. However, due to the lack of time, the Commission provisionally adopted the draft articles or conclusions with commentaries only with 1 Prof. JUDr. Pavel Šturma, DrSc. , is professor and Head of the Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague, senior research fellow at the Institute of Law of the Czech Academy of Sciences, President of the Czech Society of International Law and member of the UN International Law Commission. He is a co-author of the textbook Public International Law and author of many publications on codification of international law, international criminal law, human rights and international investment law. 2 Chairman: Mr. Narinder Singh (India), First Vice-Chairman: Mr. Amos S. Wako (Kenya), Second Vice-Chairman: Mr. Pavel Šturma (Czech Republic), Chairman of the Drafting Committee: Mr. Mathias Forteau (France), Rapporteur: Mr. Marcelo Vázquez-Bermúdez (Ecuador).

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