The draft resolution on the United Nations Programme of
Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of
International Law (A/C.6/67/L.15) would have the Assembly note with
concern that the Programme’s activities could not be sustained with the
resources available under its current budget. The text would also have
the Assembly authorize that the Secretary-General carry out a number of
activities under the Programme, including fellowships that would be awarded
based on available resources to qualified candidates from developing countries,
funded from the regular budget, and when necessary, by voluntary contributions.
The report focuses on the activities of the Office of Legal
Affairs, particularly those of its Codification Division and Treaty
Section. It also covers administrative and financial aspects of the
Programme and its Advisory Committee’s forty-seventh session.
The report states that during 2012, the Office of Legal
Affairs prepared several legal publications and maintained a number of
websites, listed in the annexes to the report. The Treaty Section
organized two training seminars at the United Nations Headquarters in December
2011 and May 2012, on the registration of treaties and depositary practice of
the Secretary-General. Other training activities were held in Belarus,
Colombia and South Sudan in 2011 and 2012.
The Codification Division, responsible for the Programme’s
implementation, prepared reports of the Secretary-General and provided services
to the Advisory Committee and the Sixth Committee on the topic. As part
of the International Law Fellowship Programme, it organized courses and special
seminars covering a broad range of subjects relating to international
law. The Division also organized a regional course in international law
for French-speaking lawyers from countries in Africa, which was held in Addis
Ababa earlier this year in cooperation with the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS).
The report continues, noting that the Division will conduct
a regional course in international law for Africa, at the African Union’s
headquarters in April 2013 provided there are sufficient voluntary
contributions, and arrange a planning mission in Costa Rica in 2013 with a view
to conducting a regional course in international law for Latin America and the
Caribbean in 2014.
The report points out that the Division, which aims to
research, preserve and digitize the audiovisual heritage of the United Nations
in the field of international law for the Historic Archives, was not able to do
so this year, owing to insufficient resources. However, as part of its
dissemination activities, it gave Audiovisual Library presentations in various
parts of the world and created two new websites for the publications Legislative
Series and Summaries of Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders of the
Permanent Court of International Justice.
In a section on the Programme’s administrative and financial
implications, the report states that in 2012, voluntary contributions were
received for the Audiovisual Library from Finland ($6,142), Germany ($54,132),
Israel ($5,000), New Zealand ($7,761), Sweden ($25,000) and the United Kingdom
($7,921). In addition, a pledge for contributions for the Audiovisual
Library was received from Mexico ($5,000). Voluntary contributions were
also received for the regional courses in international law from Ghana ($1,000),
New Zealand ($8,191), Qatar ($3,000) and the African Union ($30,000).
In a section on the Programme’s Advisory Committee, the
report lists new Member States that were appointed to serve a term commencing
1 January 2012 and ending 31 December 2015. During its
forty-seventh session, the Advisory Committee commended the activities of the
Codification Division, but noted with concern the insufficient funding for
those activities. It decided to consider the viability of voluntary
contributions as a method for funding those activities and the need to provide
a more reliable funding method through the regular budget at its forty-eighth
session. It recommended that steps be taken toward implementation of the
General Assembly’s request that the Secretary-General provide the necessary
resources to the 2014-2015 programme budget to ensure the Programme’s continued
effectiveness and development.
An annex contains a listing of legal publications issued by
the Office of Legal Affairs. Another annex contains a list of websites
maintained by the Office of Legal Affairs.