A Colloquium on the Progressive Development and Codification of

International Law will be held on Tuesday, 28 October at United Nations

Headquarters in New York to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the

International Law Commission. The

Commission was established by the General Assembly as its principal arm for

carrying out its Charter responsibilities "to initiate studies and make

recommendations for the purpose of ... encouraging the progressive

development of internationallaw and its codification".

The Colloquium will aim at generating concrete and practical suggestions

for enhancing the capability of the Commission to contribute to that

process.

Participants will include legal advisers of States, representatives

to the Sixth Committee (Legal) of the General Assembly, current members of

the Commission, and invited experts from universities, research

institutions and other organizations worldwide.

The participants will consider six specific topics relating to the

progressive development and codification of international law. These

include an overview of the international law-making process and the role of

the International Law Commission, major complexities encountered in

contemporary international law-making, and the selection of topics for

codification and progressive development by the Commission, including a

consideration of its working-methods.

They will also discuss the Commission's work and the shaping of

international law, enhancing the Commission's relationship with other

law-making bodies and relevant academic and

professional institutions, and making international law more relevant and

readily available. Selected experts from around the world have been invited

to write and present papers setting out their thoughts and proposals on

these topics, and there will be an address by a keynote speaker during a

working lunch.

In addition, there are plans to publish a book incorporating the

full texts of the papers presented to the Colloquium, along with a record

of its proceedings. In addition, the event will be filmed and taped, so

that a short audio-visual course on the progressive development and

codification of international law may be produced for teaching purposes.

The Colloquium is being held pursuant to General Assembly resolution 51/160 of

16 December 1996. Additional information on the event is available from the

Codification Division of the Office of Legal

Affairs (tel: 212/963-5345; fax: 212/963-1963).

* *** *