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The Second Session of the International Law Commission: Review of its Work by the General Assembly1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2017

Yuen-Li Liang*
Affiliation:
Division for the Development and Codification of International Law, United Nations Secretariat

Abstract

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Type
Notes on Legal Questions Concerning the United Nations
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1951

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Footnotes

*

Acknowledgment is made to Mr. G. Sandberg, Legal Counsellor of the Legal Department of the United Nations Secretariat, for assistance in the preparation of this note.

1

A note on the review by the General Assembly of the work of the first session of the International Law Commission has beenpublished in this JOURNAL, Vol. 44 (1950), pp. 527-542.

References

2 Report of the International Law Commission Covering Its Second Session, June 5 July 29, 1950, General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Supp. No. 12 (A/1316); this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), pp. 105-148.

3 General Assembly resolutions 484 (V), 485 (V), 486 (V), 487 (V), 488 (V) and 489 (V), adopted on Dee. 12, 1950. See Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly during the period Sept. 19 to Dec. 15, 1950, General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Supp. No. 20 (A/1775), pp. 76-78.

4 The four topics which were referred back by the International Law Commission to the special rapporteurs were not discussed at the fifth session of the General Assembly.

5 U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/4, p. 7; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 42 (1948), p. 7.

6 U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/6.

7 Report of the Commission on Its Second Session, U.N. Doc. A/1316, pp. 4-10; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), pp. 111-123.

8 U.N. Doc. A/1316, p. 4 ; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), pp. 112-113.

9 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, p. 122.

10 Ibid., pp. 121-122.

11 Ibid., p. 129.

12 U.N. Doc. A/1316, pp. 4-5; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), p. 113.

13 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, p. 119.

14 Ibid., p. 120. He also noted that in the French text of Art. 38 the words moyen auxiliaire, being in the singular, seemed to refer only to doctrine des publicistes and not to décisions judiciaires. He thereby apparently implied that it could be argued that Art. 38 listed judicial decisions as a principal source of law and considered teachings of publicists only as a subsidiary source.

15 Ibid.

16 U.N. Doc. A/1639, p. 7.

17 U.N. Doc. A/1316, p. 10; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), pp. 124-125.

18 General Assembly resolution 487 (V) of Dec. 12, 1950.

19 Report of the Sixth Committee, U.N. Doc. A/1639, pp. 7-8.

20 For the history of these General Assembly resolutions, see the memorandum of the Secretary General, entitled “The Charter and Judgment of the Nϋrnberg Tribunal; History and Analysis” (U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/5), pp. 11-33. The charter and the judgment of the Nϋrnberg Tribunal are included in Vol. I of the official record of the Nϋrnberg trial published under the title “Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, Nϋrnberg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946.”

21 U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/22.

22 U.N. Doc. A/1316, pp. 11-14; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), pp. 125-134.

23 Ibid., pp. 17, 137-139, respectively.

24 Trial of the Major War Criminals, Vol. I , p . 218; this JOURNAL, Vol. 41 (1947), p. 216.

25 Trial of the Major War Criminals, Vol. I, pp. 219-222 and 253-254.

26 U.N. Doc. A/1316, p. 1 1 ; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), pp. 125-126.

27 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, p. 169.

28 Ibid., p. 170.

29 ibid., p. 175.

30 Ibid., p. 150.

31 Ibid., pp. 156, 177 and 187, respectively.

32 Ibid., p. 145.

33 Ibid., p. 166.

34 Ibid., p. 174.

35 Ibid., p. 137.

36 Ibid., p. 143.

37 Ibid., p. 181.

38 Ibid., p. 143.

39 Report on the First Session (U.N. Doc. A/925), p. 4; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), p. 9.

40 Report on the Second Session, U.N. Doc. A/1316, p. 11; this JOURNAL, Supp Vol. 44 (1950), pp. 125-126.

41 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, p. 141.

42 Ibid., p. 170.

43 Ibid., p. 141.

44 Ibid., p. 166.

45 Ibid., p. 137.

46 E.g., Afghanistan, ibid., (p. 189), Australia (p. 169), Brazil (p. 132), China (p. 164), Czechoslovakia (p. 187), Greece (p. 152), Iran (p. 160), Mexico (p. 145), Soviet Union (p. 156), Syria (p. 159), United Kingdom (pp. 143-144), Uruguay (p. 154), and Venezuela (p. 165).

47 Report on the Second Session, U.N. Doc. A/1316, p. 17; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), p. 138.

48 Ibid., pp. 11-12, and 127, respectively.

49 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, pp. 144-145.

50 Ibid., p. 167.

51 Ibid., p. 187.

52 Ibid., p. 165.

53 Ibid., p. 162.

54 Ibid., p. 133.

55 Ibid., p. 155.

56 Ibid., p. 145.

57 Ibid., p. 142.

58 Ibid., p. 175.

59 Ibid., p. 156.

60 Ibid., p. 162.

61 Ibid., p. 146.

62 Ibid., p. 167.

63 Ibid., p. 161.

64 Trial of the Major War Criminals, Vol. I, p. 12.

65 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, p. 162.

66 Ibid., p. 138.

67 Trial of the Major War Criminals, Vol. I, p. 12.

68 U.N. Doc. A/1316, p. 12; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), p. 128.

69 Ibid.

70 See General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, p. 163 (Belgium), p. 133 (Brazil), p. 154 (Greece).

71 Ibid., p. 138 (Netherlands), p. 144 (United Kingdom).

72 Ibid., p. 164 (China), p. 188 (Czechoslovakia), p. 175 (Israel), p. 178 (Poland), p. 150 (Yugoslavia).

73 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, pp. 141-142 and 170.

74 Ibid., p. 133.

75 Ibid., p. 153.

76 Ibid., p. 160.

77 Ibid., p. 172.

78 Ibid., p. 151.

79 U.N. Doc. A/C.6/L.140.

80 U.N. DOC. A/C.6/L.141/Rev.l.

81 U.N. Doc. A/C.6/L.146.

82 U.N. Doc. A/C.6/L.142.

83 U.N. Doc. A/C.6/L.149.

84 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, p. 194.

85 Ibid., p. 198.

86 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Plenary Meetings, p. 604 (320th meeting, Dec. 12, 1950).

87 U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/15.

88 U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/20.

89 U.N. Doc. A/1316, p. 16; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 44 (1950), pp. 136-137.

90 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, p. 200.

91 Ibid., p. 202.

92 Ibid., p. 213.

93 Ibid., p. 207.

94 Ibid., p. 228.

95 Ibid., p. 226.

96 Ibid., p. 223.

97 Ibid., p. 201.

98 Ibid., PP. 203,204,205, 207, 216 and 224.

99 U.N. Doc. A/C.6/L.151/Rev.l.

100 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Sixth Committee, p. 240.

101 General Assembly, 5th Sess., Official Records, Plenary Meetings, p. 604 (320th meeting, Dec. 12, 1950). The following Member States were selected to be represented on the committee: Australia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, France, India, Iran, Israel, The Netherlands, Pakistan, Peru, Syria, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay. Poland and the Soviet Union had declined to participate in the committee.