CYIL vol. 7 (2016)

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CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ THE INTERNATIONAL LAWCOMMISSION AT THE END OF ITS QUINQUENNIUM…

was not able to adopt para. 2, proposed by the Special Rapporteur, which includes

additional elements of

jus

cogens

norms.

These elements may also be developed in

separate draft conclusions.

2.7 Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict

Concerning this topic, the Commission had before it the third and last report of

the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Marie Jacobsson, who is not candidate for re-election.

The report focused on identifying rules applicable in post-conflict situations but also

addressed some preventive issues to be undertaken in the pre-conflict phase.

Following the debate in Plenary, the Commission decided to refer the draft

principles, as contained in the report of the Special Rapporteur, to the Drafting

Committee. The Commission provisionally adopted the draft principles it had taken

note of during its sixty-seventh session (2015), which had been renumbered and

revised for technical reasons by the Drafting Committee at the present session,

together with the commentaries thereto.

Those draft principles include principle 1 (Scope), principle 2 (Purpose), principle 5

(Designation of protected zones), principle 9 (General protection of natural environment

during armed conflict), principle 10 (Application of the law of armed conflict to the

natural environment), principle 11 (Environmental considerations shall be taken

into account when applying the principle of proportionality and the rules on military

necessity), principle 12 (Prohibition of reprisals against the natural environment)

and principle 13 (Protected zones).

Furthermore, the Commission received the report of the Drafting Committee and

took note of additional eight draft principles, provisionally adopted by the Drafting

Committee in 2016.

They concern implementation and enforcement, SOFA and

other agreements with respect to the presence of forces, peace operations, rights of

indigenous peoples (principles 4, 6, 7, 8), as well as peace processes and agreements,

post-conflict environmental assessments and reviews, remnants of war and access to

and sharing of information (principles 14 to 17).

However, the future work on this topic remains uncertain, depending on the

question of if and when a new Special Rapporteur will be appointed.

2.8 Immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction

In relation to this topic the Commission had before it the fifth report of the

Special Rapporteur Ms. Concepción Escobar Hernández, which was focused on the

question of limitations and exceptions to the immunity of State officials from foreign

„2. Norms of

jus cogens

protect the fundamental values of the international community, are hierarchically

superior to other norms of international law and are universally applicable.“ (ibid., p. 5)

See doc. A/CN.4/700 (2016).

See doc. A/CN.4/L.888/Add.1 (2016).

See doc. A/CN.4/L.888 (2016), pp. 2-3.