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Resolution 76/120 on Strengthening and Promoting the International Treaty Framework (U.N.G.A.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2022

Nathaniel Yong-Ern Khng*
Affiliation:
LL.B. (Hons.) (Melb.), LL.M. (Yale), Advocate and Solicitor (Singapore), Australian Lawyer (Victoria, Australia), Foreign Legal Consultant (New York, United States), Counsellor (Legal) at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Singapore to the United Nations in New York. Nathaniel Khng is the legal adviser at the Permanent Mission of Singapore. All views expressed in this note are personal.

Extract

On December 9, 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 76/120, “Strengthening and Promoting the International Treaty Framework,” by consensus. The resolution had been forwarded to the General Assembly for consideration after having been adopted by the General Assembly's Sixth (Legal) Committee on November 18, 2021 by consensus, in line with its traditional approach to decision-making. The negotiations of the resolution were coordinated (chaired) by Brazil and Singapore.

Type
International Legal Documents
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The American Society of International Law

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References

ENDNOTES

1 Maitê de Souza Schmitz of Brazil and Nathaniel Khng of Singapore served as coordinators for the negotiations of the resolution.

2 Permanent Reps. of Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Italy, and Singapore to the U.N., letter dated Jun. 7, 2018, from the Permanent Reps. of Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Italy and Singapore to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, U.N. Doc. A/73/141 (Jun. 7. 2018).

3 U.N. GAOR. 75th Sess., 6th Sixth Comm. mtg., ¶ 85, U.N. Doc. A/C.6/75/SR.6 (Oct. 15, 2020).

4 G.A. Res. 73/210, ¶¶ 4, 12, U.N. Doc. A/RES/73/210 (Dec. 20, 2018).

5 The resolution requested the UN Secretary-General to provide a report, following broad consultations with member states, with information on practice and possible options to review the regulations. G.A. Res. 73/210, ¶ 12, U.N. Doc. A/RES/73/210 (Dec. 20, 2018).

6 See G.A. Res. 75/136, ¶ 12, U.N. Doc. A/RES/75/136 (Dec. 15, 2020).

7 See U.N. GAOR. 75th Sess., 7th Sixth Comm. mtg., ¶ 28, U.N. Doc. A/C.6/75/SR.7 (Oct. 19, 2020).

8 U.N. G.A. Rep. of the Secretary-General, Review of the Regulations to Give Effect to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, ¶ 12, U.N. Doc. A/75/136 (Jul. 6, 2020), citing U.N. G.A. Rep. of the Sixth Comm., Registration and Publication of Treaties and International Agreements, ¶ 7(b), U.N. Doc. A/266 (Dec. 13, 1946).

9 See Special Rapporteur on the Provisional Application of Treaties, Fourth Rep. on the Provisional Application of Treaties, Int'l Law Comm'n, ¶ 114, U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/699 (Jun. 23, 2016) (by Juan Manuel Gómez-Robledo).

10 See G.A. Res. 76/120, Annex, art. 5, ¶¶ 3, 4(e), U.N. Doc. A/RES/76/120 (Dec. 9, 2021).

11 Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

12 See U.N. GAOR. 75th Sess., 19th Sixth Comm. mtg., ¶ 37, U.N. Doc. A/C.6/75/SR.19 (Nov. 19, 2020).

13 U.N. G.A. Rep. of the Secretary-General, Review of the Regulations to Give Effect to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, ¶ 31, U.N. Doc. A/72/86 (May 11, 2017) (“[T]he General Assembly has encouraged States to provide, where available, … courtesy translations in English or French or both … However, courtesy translations are rarely received, which often has an impact on the amount of time needed for registration and publication.”)

14 See G.A. Res. 76/120, supra note 10, Annex, art. 12, ¶ 2(d). The chapeau, at paragraph 2, was also amended, through a deletion of the word “bilateral” before the phrase “treaty or international agreement”. This was to reflect what was provided for in General Assembly resolution 52/153, in accordance with which the limited publication policy has been applicable to both bilateral and multilateral treaties.

15 See U.N. G.A. Rep. of the Secretary-General, Review of the Regulations to Give Effect to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, ¶ 39, U.N. Doc. A/72/86 (May 11, 2017) (“With respect to a treaty subject to limited publication, the series omits its text, but indicates its full title in English and French, as well as information on the parties, date and mode of entry into force and authentic texts, as well as the number and date of registration and the registering entity.”); U.N. G.A. Rep. of the Secretary-General, Review of the Regulations to Give Effect to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, ¶ 50, U.N. Doc. A/75/136 (Jul. 6, 2020) (“The Secretariat makes decisions on whether or not to publish a treaty in extenso taking into account, inter alia, the practical value that might accrue from in extenso publication, as indicated in article 12, paragraph 3.”)

16 U.N. G.A. Rep. of the Secretary-General, Review of the Regulations to Give Effect to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, ¶ 44, U.N. Doc. A/72/86 (May 11, 2017); U.N. G.A. Rep. of the Secretary-General, Review of the Regulations to Give Effect to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, ¶ 54, U.N. Doc. A/75/136 (Jul. 6, 2020).

17 See G.A. Res. 76/120, supra note 10, Annex, art. 12, ¶¶ 2, 2(e).

18 Id. ¶ 14.

19 Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

20 See G.A. Res. 76/120, supra note 10, ¶ 4.