The International Law Commission of the United Nations held its 41st session from May 2 to July 21, 1989, under the Chairmanship of Professor Bernhard Graefrath. The most noteworthy achievement of the session was the completion of work on the status of the diplomatic courier and the diplomatic bag not accompanied by diplomatic courier. The Commission referred this draft to the General Assembly with the recommendation that the Assembly convoke a diplomatic conference for the purpose of concluding a convention on the basis of the articles. Also at the 41st session, the Commission adopted three articles of the Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind and discussed reports on state responsibility, international liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law, jurisdictional immunities of states and their property, and the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses. A report on relations between states and international organizations was presented to the Commission but was not discussed for lack of time. Finally, the Commission once again devoted a number of meetings to reviewing its procedures and methods of work.

The advisability of permitting judges from litigant states to participate in hearings before international judicial tribunals has been a subject of disagreement on several occasions. It provoked serious controversy for the first time at the Hague Conference of 1907, when the proposed Court of Arbitral Justice was under discussion. Recently it has received even more attention in connection with the establishment of the Permanent Court of International Justice and in discussions of amendments to the Statute of the court and its rules.