¹ For a general description of the Sixth Committee and its role in the progressive development and codification of international law, see Virginia Morris and M.-Christiane Bourloyannis, The Work of the Sixth Committee at the Forty-seventh Session of the UN General Assembly, 87 AJIL 306, 306 nn.1, 2 (1993).

² For an extensive summary of the statements made during the debate and the action taken by the committee with respect to the various items, see the summary records to be published in UN Docs. A/C.6/53/SR.1-35 (1998–1999). The draft resolutions recommended by the Sixth Committee following the debate, all of which were adopted by the General Assembly without change, are contained in the reports of the Sixth Committee to the General Assembly on the various items. These reports also contain information on the relevant documentation, including the summary records, for each item. See UN Docs. A/53/627-637 (1998); GA Res. 53/146-156; GA Dec. 53/430.

³ Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its thirty-first session, UN GAOR, 53rd Sess., Supp. No. 17, UN Doc. A/53/17 (1998).

⁴ The United States expressed the view that the draft convention on accounts receivable financing had the potential to increase significantly the availability of lower-cost commercial credit to countries where such credit was in short supply and recommended adopting the option of a priority system involving registries to provide notice to new creditors of any prior financing commitments. UN Doc. A/C.6/53/SR.4 (1999).

⁵ Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization, UN GAOR, 53rd Sess., Supp. No. 33, UN Doc. A/53/33 (1998). In connection with this item, the Sixth Committee also discussed the consequences of the increase in the volume of cases before the International Court of Justice on its operation and the updating of two United Nations publications, namely the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council See, respectively, the report of the Secretary-General reproducing the comments of the Court and of one state on the former, UN Doc. A/53/326 and Corr.1 and Add.1 (1998), and the Secretary-General’s progress report on the latter, UN Doc. A/53/386 (1998).

⁶ A summary of the deliberations and main findings of the ad hoc expert group meeting is contained in the Report of the Secretary–General on Implementation of provisions of the Charter related to assistance to third states affected by the application of sanctions, UN Doc. A/53/312 (1998).

⁷ GA Res. 52/162, UN GAOR, 52nd Sess., Supp. No. 49, Vol. 1, at 386, UN Doc. A/52/49 (1997).

⁸ The Special Committee was also requested to take into account the comments of states and the International Court of Justice regarding the latter’s increased workload in considering practical ways to strengthen the Court. The Secretary-General was asked to continue his efforts for updating the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council.

⁹ The high level representation at the debate on this item deserves mention; in particular, a significantly higher number of permanent representatives than usual took the floor in the Sixth Committee.

¹⁰ Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, July 17, 1998, UN Doc.A/Conf.183/9*, (visited June 28, 1999) <http:/www.un.org/icc>, reprinted in 37 ILM 998 (1988) [hereinafter ICC Statute].

¹¹ Resolution F adopted by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of the International Criminal Court, UN Doc. A/CONF.183/10*, annex I (1998).

¹² As envisaged in Article 9 of the ICC Statute, that was included on the initiative of the United States, the “elements of crimes” are meant to assist the ICC in the interpretation and application of the Statute’s provisions defining the crimes within its jurisdiction.

¹⁵ GARes. 53/105, para. 4 (Dec. 9, 1998).

¹⁴ Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fiftieth session, UN GAOR, 53rd Sess., Supp. No. 10, UN Doc. A/53/10 (1998).

¹⁵ See Robert Rosenstock, The Fiftieth Session of the International Law Commission, 93 AJIL 236 (1999).

¹⁶ 1155 UNTS 331.

¹⁷ UN Doc. A/C.6/53/L.16 (1998). It was adopted as GA Res. 53/102 (1998).

¹⁸ UN GAOR, 46th Sess., Supp. No. 10, para. 28, UN Doc. A/46/10 (1991).

¹⁹ The Committee had before it a report of the Secretary-General containing the comments submitted by three states on the draft articles, namely Austria, France and Germany. UN Doc. A/53/274 and Add.1 (1998).

²⁰ GA Res. 49/61, UN Doc. A/49/49, vol. I, at 305.

²¹ GA Res. 52/151, UN Doc. A/52/49, vol. I, at 369.

²² GA Res. 52/164, annex, UN GAOR, 52nd Sess., Supp. No. 49, Vol. 1, at 388, UN Doc. A/52/49 (1998), reprinted in 37 ILM 249 (1998) [hereinafter Terrorist Bombings Convention].

²³ See GA Res. 51/210, UN GAOR, 51st Sess., Supp. No. 49, Vol. 1, at 346, UN Doc. A/51/49 (1996). For the report on the 1998 session, see Report of the Ad Hoc Committee established by General Assembly resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996, UN GAOR, 53rd Sess., Supp. No. 37, UN Doc. A/53/37 (1998).

²⁴ For the report of the working group containing the text of the draft convention, see UN Doc. A/C.6/53/L.4 (1998) [hereinafter Draft Convention]. The chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, Philippe Kirsch (Canada), also served as chairman of the working group.

²⁵ Such an exclusion clause is contained in Article 19, paragraph 2, of die Terrorist Bombings Convention, supra note 22.

²⁶ Regarding the technical definitions of the radioactive material, devices and nuclear facilities covered by the Convention, the negotiators benefited from the expertise of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which participated in the meetings.

²⁷ Draft Convention, supra note 24, Art. 2.

²⁸ Id., Art.18.

²⁹ The first draft of such instrument submitted by France is contained in UN Doc. A/C.6/53/9 (1998).

³⁰ See Final document of the Conference, UN Doc. A/53/667-S/1998/1071, annex I, para. 161 (1998).

³¹ The Ad Hoc Committee met March 15–26, 1999. Work is to continue during the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly, from September 27 to October 8, 1999, in the framework of a working group of the Sixth Committee.

³² The draft resolution also reiterates many of the provisions of resolution 52/165 adopted on this subject at the previous session. See GA Res. 52/165, UN GAOR, 52nd Sess., Supp. No. 49, Vol. 1, at 394, UN Doc. A/52/49 (1998).

³³ Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, June 8, 1977, 1125 UNTS 3; Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts, June 8, 1977, 1125 UNTS 609. The Sixth Committee had before it in connection with the item the report of the Secretary-General containing the list of states parties to the Additional Protocols as of July 31, 1998. See UN Doc. A/53/287 (1998).

³⁴ See ICC Statute, supra note 10, Arts. 5(c) & 8.

³⁵ Reference was made in that regard to resolution ES-10/3 of July 15, 1997, adopted at the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly which recommended the convening of such a conference to address “measures to enforce the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and to ensure its respect.” See UN Doc. A/RES/ES-10/3, para. 10 (1997).

³⁶ Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 UST 3516, 75 UNTS 287.

³⁷ Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 UST 3114, 75 UNTS 31; Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick, and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 UST 3217, 75 UNTS 85; Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 UST 3316, 75 UNTS 135. See also supra note 36.

³⁸ UN Docs. A/INF/52/6 and Add.1 and A/53/276 and Corr.1 (1998). (The Secretary-General’s reports are prepared on an annual basis to facilitate comparison and considered by the Sixth Committee on a biennial basis.)

³⁹ On the reporting procedures, see Virginia Morris & M.-Christiane Bourloyannis-Vrailas, The Work of the Sixth Committee at the Forty-ninth Session of the UN General Assembly, 89 AJIL 607, 609 n.16 (1995).

⁴⁰ The chair of the working group, Socorro Flores (Mexico), presented an oral report to the Sixth Committee on the results achieved by the group. UN Doc. A/C.6/53/SR.32 (1998).

⁴¹ Mar. 21, 1986, UN Doc. A/CONF.129/15, 25 ILM 543 (1986).

⁴² UN Doc. A/52/141 (1997). The committee also had the report of the Secretary-General containing the views of five states on this proposal before it. UN Doc. A/53/332 and Add.1 (1998).

⁴³ These two states submitted a progress report on the matter, UN Doc. A/C.6/53/10 (1998). For a list of events that will take place in 1999 related to the centennial of the first International Peace Conference and the United Nations Decade of International Law, see UN Doc. A/C.6/53/11 (1998).

⁴⁴ In particular, these two states were requested to submit to the General Assembly reports on the outcome of the celebrations held at The Hague and St. Petersburg in 1999 for consideration at the above-mentioned plenary meeting marking the decade’s end.

⁴⁵ Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country, UN GAOR, 53rd Sess., Supp. No. 26, UN Doc. A/53/26 (1998).