Fifty-third General Assembly

Sixth Committee 16 September 1998

2nd Meeting (PM)

SIXTH COMMITTEE ELECTS OFFICERS, ADOPTS PROGRAMME OF WORK

Committee Chairman Jargalsaikhany Enkhasaikhan (Mongolia) Urges

Take Concrete Steps to Ensure Establishment of International Criminal Court

The Sixth Committee (Legal), this afternoon adopted its programme of work for the fifty-third session of the General Assembly. It also elected Socorro Flores Liera (Mexico) as a Vice-Chairman. The Committee's two remaining vice-Chairmen and Rapporteur will be elected at a later date.

The Committee also elected Philippe Kirsch (Canada) to continue chairing the working group elaborating a draft international convention for the suppression of nuclear terrorism. (By resolution 52/165, the General Assembly recommended that the work of the ad hoc committee established by resolution 51/210 which concerns measures to eliminate international terrorism, continue its deliberations during its fifty-third session, from 28 September to 9 October, within the framework of a working group of the Sixth Committee.)

The Committee also elected Socorro Flores Liera (Mexico) as Chairman of the working group on the United Nations Decade of International Law, which is elaborating draft guiding principles for international negotiations.

Among other items on the Committee's agenda are a proposed convention on jurisdictional immunities of States and their property, and the review of the Statute of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal. The Committee will also consider a report of the United Nations Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, which took place in Rome from 15 June to 17 July.

Committee Chairman Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan (Mongolia), said that all agenda items allocated for consideration by the Committee were important. He expressed the hope that the Committee would conduct fruitful and substantive discussions, taking concrete steps to ensure the establishment of the International Criminal Court and to support the fight against international terrorism. The results would depend on the input of all the delegations, he added.